Jockey Robbie McNamara has spoken about the fall that left him needing spinal surgery earlier this month, and the remarkable outlook that has aided his recovery since then.
McNamara sustained multiple rib and vertebrae fractures, a collapsed lung, and abdominal damage after a fall from Bursledon at a meeting at Wexford.
He required spinal surgery in Dublin’s Mater Hospital, and is currently undergoing a long period of rehabilitation.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, McNamara said his doctors were very happy with the progress he had made, and that “a few of them are surprised I’ve come so far in such a little space of time.
“I’m kind of happy with the way things are going at the minute,” McNamara said.
“Things are very good. I can’t complain now at all.”
The Limerick jockey explained that he was doing a bit of rehabilitation work as he continues on the road to recovery, and has been consistently optimistic and upbeat about what lies ahead.
“Every day there’s an improvement. For the first week, maybe, I struggled a bit; I was very heavily drugged up, and I probably don’t remember a fair bit of it. And every day after that I’ve been improving," said McNamara.
“I knew straight away that I was in trouble. I couldn’t breathe. I tried not to panic, because I knew it was worse than normal" - Robbie McNamara
“I broke a lot of ribs, and they’re improving every day, and the vertebrae are kind of healing as well. I’d a lot of bruising, a lot of swelling on the back, and that’s going down each day. So every day it’s getting better.
“The feeling in the legs hasn’t improved too much, but you won’t know a whole pile before six weeks; you’d know a bit more about that.”
Reflecting on the fall itself, McNamara revealed: “I remember the whole lot of it, unfortunately. I’d rather I didn’t remember. It’s as clear as if it only happened ten minutes ago. I remember it as clear as can be.
“I turned into the back straight and the horse just ran off the bend a small bit. I kind of went from third to about sixth. But I was plenty happy to stay where I was, because we were going a good gallop.
“And I jumped the first one down the back. I jumped it well and I went to the second one down the back, and I just barely clipped the top of it. I didn’t even make much of a mistake.
“And it took one little peck at the back of it. Lots of the time horses just take one little peck and they’d often stand up, but he just took another bad step, and went to fall. And it was going to be a grand, soft fall; I was just waiting for the horse to fall and me to just roll out of the way.
1st day in the gym over, loved every minute of it. Roll on tomorrow #brickbybrick pic.twitter.com/qVzlR4wlLX
— Robbie McNamara (@RobbiepMcN) April 28, 2015
“And just as I was about to hit the ground – it was like getting hit by a lorry or something. I knew straight away that something was wrong. The horse behind - I don’t know whether... I haven’t seen it since - I don’t know whether he fell on me or he hit me with his head in the back, or what. He just hit me straight into the back.
“And I knew straight away that I was in trouble. I couldn’t breathe. I tried not to panic, because I knew it was worse than normal: just the pain, between the ribs and I burst my lung as well. I just couldn’t get my chest to expand so I couldn’t breathe in at all.
“I looked at my legs and I knew straight away. I tried to move my legs and they wouldn’t work. For about three hours I struggled to breathe.”
"I just look forward to my day, and get on about what I have ahead of me" - Robbie McNamara
Rushed to Wexford hospital, McNamara had his lung re-inflated, though he still found breathing difficult because of his broken ribs.
He would eventually be transferred to the Mater Hospital in Dublin, where he was given painkillers and operated upon. He had not been allowed painkillers in Wexford while a decision was taken whether he would be operated on.
He has tweeted a number of updates since about his recovery, and said his remarkably positive outlook on his injuries and his recovery is simply part and parcel of who he is.
“It’s not that I’m making a conscious effort of being positive,” he said. “I’m clearly a laid-back kind of fella. I always knew that it’d take a fair bit to bother me.
“I thought that if something like this happened it would fairly phase me, but I’ve taken it all in my stride, and it’s no problem; like, waking up is no problem, and I just look forward to my day, and get on about what I have ahead of me.”
Delighted to get out of the bed for the first time today. What a beautiful day for it to land on #littlevictories pic.twitter.com/nZAB3LCiN6
— Robbie McNamara (@RobbiepMcN) April 21, 2015
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