Tag: spinal injury

Graham Lee Thanks Racing Community For Their Support Three Months After Spinal Injury

A statement thanking the racing community for their support was released by the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) on behalf of injured jockey Graham Lee on Saturday.

Injured in a severe fall at Newcastle three months ago, the Group 1-winning jockey is currently located at the Spinal Unit of the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesborough. Also a Grand National winner, Lee is planning to modify his house in order to move home in the next few months. A JustGiving page was set up for Lee shortly after his accident and it has raised over £190,000 to date.

Lee's statement, released via the IJF, read as follows: “It's three months now since my accident and I thought it was appropriate for me to say something publicly for the first time.

“Frankly, I've been overwhelmed by the unbelievable support and good wishes sent by everyone and I'd like to thank you all so much on behalf of myself, my wife Becky and our children, Amy and Robbie.

“It feels like I'm in a bit of a bubble here at the James Cook Spinal Unit but the girls share with me all the messages that they are receiving and every single one is appreciated, as is the support of my great friends who continue to visit me so regularly and keep my spirits up.

“I never really considered that I had achieved that much as a jockey and it seems crazy that so many people are thinking of us all. I can't deny it has been–and continues to be–hard for us all, but these messages help us all so much.

“I would also like to thank the team of nurses here who are just unbelievable in the around the clock care and support they offer us all.

“As most of you know, the injuries I have suffered are life-changing and there is a long road ahead. But we have just received planning permission so that work can start to adapt our home in the hope that I will be able to leave hospital at some stage in the next few months.

“Thank you again. I am truly humbled and grateful.”

The post Graham Lee Thanks Racing Community For Their Support Three Months After Spinal Injury appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Longtime Handal Assistant Jose Mejia Suffers Severe Injuries In Morning Spill At Turfway Park

Longtime assistant to trainer Raymond Handal, Jose Mejia suffered severe injuries in a Sunday morning spill at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

According to Handal's Facebook post and a GoFundMe page, Mejia's mount stumbled and went down, landing on top of him. The 33-year-old assistant had to be airlifted to the hospital and was found to have incurred 10 broken ribs as well as four broken vertebrae in his spine.

Mejia underwent surgery to fuse the spine with rods and screws, and still has no feeling below his ribcage. Doctors are unsure whether that feeling will return.

“Anyone that is familiar with Handal Racing knows that Jose Mejia has been an integral part of the operation from almost the very beginning,” Handal wrote. “He's a hard worker, a team player, and most recently has been the ring leader of our strings on the road at Monmouth and Turfway.”

On Handal's website, Mejia is listed as the “Traveling Assistant” in charge of ensuring that “horses are safe and happy when they are required to travel away from their home track in order to race,” and the man in charge of the barn's shed row at Saratoga Race Course.

On Steve Byk's At The Races show Wednesday, Handal explained the incident further.

“It was just an unfortunate incident,” Handal said. “The track had closed for a couple days, and the first day that it reopened he was just doing a routine gallop with one of the horses there at Turfway. The horse switched to his right lead down the backside right around the three-quarters, took a funky step and stumbled. Jose tried to kind of take his head up a little bit, to try to help him recover like you would, but he just had too much momentum going forward. He went down and rolled over on top of him. It was a pretty horrific scene.”

The horse escaped the incident unscathed, getting to his feet and shortly thereafter was corralled by the outriders.

Mejia, however, did not move, and wound up requiring an airlift to the hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“He's been with me since the beginning, since I started training,” Handal explained (his career began in 2014). “He's just devoted himself and given so much to me and to our team and to so many different horses over the years, he's just gone above and beyond.”

Mejia's 7-year-old daughter, Callie, was staying with her mother in Connecticut over the weekend.

The Jockey Club's Safety Net Foundation responded to Handal's social media post, explaining that the organization is available to help fund Mejia's recovery.

The GoFundMe page to aide in Mejia's recovery is available here.

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