JOCKEY Ryan Winks is lucky not to be in a wheelchair after breaking two vertebrae in his back following a horror fall at Sedgefield.
The 38-year-old from Middlecliffe was racing Presenting Streak, trained by his father Peter, in the first race at the course last Tuesday.
But he said his horse misjudged the hurdle resulting in the fall.
After undergoing surgery to insert two rods, two plates and screws into his back, Ryan is now recovering at home but his future as a jockey is uncertain.
Ryan told the Chronicle: “I remember everything about it. As I was coming towards the first hurdle, my horse kind of picked up I don’t think he fully saw it.
“One cut across me and the horse fell and crushed me.
“I hit the ground hard. The next thing I knew a horse was trampling on my back.
“I tried to get up but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breath. I knew it was bad because I couldn’t breathe.
“I thought ‘something serious is happening here’ and the next thing I knew, I was being carried off in an ambulance.”
Ryan was taken to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough, where scans showed he had broken two vertebrae in his back and chipped a bone in his neck.
He underwent surgery to insert the plates and rods and said doctors told him he was lucky not to be in a wheelchair.
He said: “I’ve never broken anything that bad before. They checked my head and neck and spine. I had suffered a lot of internal injuries and injured my spine. I’m lucky not to be in a wheelchair.
“I had surgery the following morning, it was two or three hours.”
Despite everything he went through, Ryan’s first thought was for his horse.
“I wasn’t scared, you can’t do this job if you’re scared. All I could think was ‘how is the horse.’ I saw the horse get up and they managed to catch him on the home straight. I was glad the horse was OK. I was just gutted because I fancied my chances, but it was just one of those things.”
Ryan was due to be racing a different horse in the next race. “I knew I had a good chance on him and was asking about him and was telling my dad to race him, and he finished second.”
Ryan was discharged from hospital last Thursday, and although he is still in a lot of pain, he’s already thinking about when he can get back in the saddle.
“They said as long as I keep moving, not too much, and then resting and not too much lifting then I will be fine. I’ve just got to take it steady, I’m in a lot of pain.
“I get about two hours of sleep a night, you can’t escape the pain. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
“I have to take it day by day now to see if I can get back riding. I was hoping to be back in six to eight weeks but I think I may have underestimated that. As a jockey, the first thing you think is ‘how long am I going to be out’ and ‘when can I get back?’
“I’m going to give it four or five weeks and then go to Jack Berry House (the injured jockey’s centre) in Malton for rehabilitation and take it from there and see if it is in my best interests to ride again or if another fall will put me in a wheelchair for good.
“I’m worried I might not be able to ride again. I’ve got a couple of seasons left before I need to retire so I’m a bit gutted.”
