By Craig Kerry
Fallen jockey Blake Spriggs was revived three times after he was badly injured in a horror fall at Moruya last Friday.
Spriggs’ mother, Chic, gave an update on the jockey’s condition on Tuesday following surgery the day before on his broken collarbone, elbow and forearm.
Chic revealed the seriousness of Spriggs’ condition immediately after the fall, saying medics had to revive him on the way to Canberra Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition.
Fellow jockey Beany Panya was also hurt in the incident, suffering trauma to the head and two fractured vertebrae.
“They had to revive him twice in the helicopter and that’s why they took him first, he was the worst,” Chic said. “Then they said they revived him again when he got to the hospital in the trauma emergency department.
“They said he’s fit, like most jockeys are, and he’s just had his 31st birthday, so he’s young, so he’s got all that on his side. But the lung thing is a problem.”
Blake Spriggs, left, before riding Sir John Hawkwood in the 2016 Melbourne Cup.Credit: Photographic
Spriggs has significant internal injuries, including punctured lungs and fractured ribs. He was riding Blesstas near the front of the field when he fell, causing a chain reaction that also took down Panya, who was on The Boomerang. Both horses were uninjured.
“Because he’s got multiple broken ribs, and each broken rib has multiple fractures, they are contemplating what to do,” Chic said.
“They don’t often plate ribs in Australia, but in America they do. They are hoping to take the breathing tube out today.
“Because he has deflated, punctured lungs, it’s quite scary because it hurts to breathe and he can’t expand his lungs properly because of all the broken bones.”
‘He’s going to be right. I know he will be.’
Injured jockey Blake Spriggs’ mother Chic
Despite small bleeds on his brain, Spriggs has recognised family and friends when awake. Chic said the family had been overwhelmed by the support for Blake.
“I have to thank Canberra Hospital, the police who were there on the day – they have rung me twice already asking about him and Beany – the NSW Jockeys’ Association, Racing NSW stewards and the racing community in general,” she said.
“I can’t get to answer all the text messages and phone calls because I’ve had hundreds. But you are reading what they are saying, and it’s lovely.
“He’s going to be right. I know he will be.” It’s going to be a long road, but he was semi-conscious this morning. He couldn’t breathe properly so they put him back under again.
“He’s got bleeds on the brain, but they are only tiny. They did think at the beginning that one of them would cause him not to be able to use his arm properly, or something like that, but he can signal with his finger what he wants done, and he can move his legs and toes.”
Spriggs, a group 1 winner, is the son of Dale Spriggs, who survived multiple falls in a long career as a jockey.
Panya takes first steps on road to recovery
Beany Panya, meanwhile, has made incredible steps in her recovery. Her twin sister and fellow jockey Deanne Panya said Beany had walked briefly on Monday, a day after surgery to insert two rods to stabilise her spine. She has shown no signs of neurological damage despite being unconscious for several hours after the fall.
“With the nature of the fall and the fact she was out for so long, I thought what’s going on?” Deanne said. “Because I’ve been knocked out as well and I know what it’s like to have a minor bleed to the brain – it takes a while to get over, and I was out for only a couple of minutes.
“She didn’t wake up until 12am the day she fell. There was a report that said she was sedated but I asked the nurse at Moruya when it was 7.30pm, ‘How’s her consciousness? Has it improved’? She said, ‘Sorry to give you bad news, but it’s not looking great. I asked if she was sedated, and they said, no she’s not’.
“Her consciousness didn’t improve in hours, but then she woke up at 12 and remembered everyone. It was such a big relief.
“Then it was if she would have feeling in her limbs.
“She woke up and she could push and pull all her limbs and her strength was pretty good too. She almost pulled the nurse over the bed.”
Deanne said Beany remembered everything before the race.
“Every day she says she’s ready to go home, she said she feels fine,” she said. “But she needs to take it easy and every day she is improving.”
Deanne added that Beany could be back riding in three to six months.
“She will take her time and see how it feels,” she said. “I haven’t asked her, but I reckon she would come back.”
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