Tara Howell meets her
‘inadvertent hero',
Stephen Fry

On 26th November, the President hosted
Stephen Fry & Tara Howell at Queens'

Tara Howell (1990, English) was paralysed from the chest down after being bucked off a horse in 2014. Her injuries could have been fatal. She broke her neck, dislocated 13 vertebrae, and bent her spinal cord in the accident. It was five and a half hours before she was found and rescued by the air ambulance.

Surgeons operated for eight hours in an effort to stabilise her neck, resulting in a two-week medically induced coma where she was unable to breathe without a ventilator. After being transferred to a spinal unit, it took eight months of physio and rehabilitation.

During this time, Tara found solace in listening to the audio version of her favourite series of books, Harry Potter, narrated by fellow Queens’ member, Stephen Fry (1978 & Hon Fellow). She says that this process helped her on the road to recovery and referred to Stephen as her 'inadvertent hero', as it was his soothing voice that spared her from having panic attacks. Queens' College connected Tara with Stephen so that she could share her story and thank him directly.

On 26^th November, Tara was invited to meet Stephen at Queens’. They were hosted by the President in the Lodge and joined by Professor James Diggle (Life Fellow) & Rowan Kitt (Development Director).

“It was both a huge privilege and a pleasure to be invited to the lunch. I was very touched to be included and also really enjoyed seeing the inside of the College again after nearly thirty years. Reassuringly, it looked almost exactly the same.”
Tara Howell

Tara has shown great resilience in the face of adversity and actively still raises money for Spinal Research and The Air Ambulances.

Learn more on Tara's website

Inclusivity is of vital importance at Queens' where we are working hard towards making the College more accessible to all our students and academics.