Courtney King Dye. Sharon Packer/HorseSportsPhoto.

Lexington, KY — The popular helmet awareness campaign, Riders4Helmets, is pleased to announce that an eBay store to raise funds for 2008 US Olympian Courtney King-Dye’s Medical Fund is now open. The store will operate for one week only and all proceeds will be donated to the King-Dye Medical Fund. King-Dye suffered a traumatic brain injury in March 2012 following an accident while riding without a helmet, and is now an avid supporter of the Riders4Helmets campaign, having been vocal in support of helmet wearing since the accident. A moving video of the Olympian opened the 2nd Riders4Helmets Safety Symposium held this past July at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY. The video which is available at www.youtube.com/riders4helmets has received over 40,000 views to date.

While King-Dye does have medical insurance, her out-of-pocket medical expenses since her accident have been substantial. King-Dye requires over 200 sessions of Physical and Occupational Therapy annually and her insurance only cover 60 of these visits leaving her to find a way to pay for the remainder. While King-Dye is extremely appreciative of the support that she has received to date, she faces a long journey on the road to recovery, and every dollar counts.

Items that are available in the store include: a half-day photography session with award winning photographer Sharon Packer (HorseSportsPhoto.com), one certificate for a GPA helmet, SUCCEED Digestive Conditioning Program, Riders4Helmets logo wear, a Smartpak Harwich padded dressage bridle, an autographed King-Dye saddle pad, 40 bags of Purina Ultium horse feed, a Laura Clark Curtis Design Studio Hampton necklace, a Nutrition Consultation with Clair Thunes PhD (Summit Equine Nutrition), “Piaffe Revealed” DVD set donated by Riz Ilyad, “Big Trot” vase by Beverly Zimmer and Pottery by Courtney King-Dye. To make a purchase from the eBay store, please visit http://stores.ebay.com/CourtneyKingDyeMedicalFund.

“Thank you so much for continuing to support me through all this time. It's been a year and a half since my accident, and I'm looking at years more of necessary therapies” said King-Dye. “I have big goals which I can only achieve with continued therapy, which is only made possible through the incredible support of people like you. I can't thank you enough, and I try to give what I can back to the community that gives so much to me. Thank you.”

The goal of the Riders4Helmets Campaign is to educate equestrians on the benefits of wearing a properly fitted and secured, certified helmet. For further information please visit www.riders4helmets.com. You can also follow the campaign at www.facebook.com/riders4helmets and http://twitter.com/riders4helmets.