On Friday a story by Ray Thomas (Racenet) emphasized the perils that jockey’s face everytime they throw a leg over a horse.
It is sobering for those that watch our sport from the comfort of a grandstand, or a lounge chair, or are tucked up warm and cozy in the early hours of the morning when the perils are at play. These hero's of our sport keep us engaged in the excitement of our industry.
However some sadly pay the ultimate price whilst others count themselves luck to have survived.
BLAKE SPRIGGS has been forced into medical retirement.
The Gr1 winning rider won his first race in 2008 on a horse named Sixty Watt and became a Gr1 Winning rider aboard SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD who took out the 2016 Metropolitan over 2400m at Randwick.
Blake ends his career with 654 Race Wins including 8 Stakes Wins.
Ray Thomas wrote a terrific story about his recent interview with a good mate to the Dynamic Syndications Team – BLAKE SPRIGGS.
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Blake Spriggs realises he has won the biggest race of his life.
It's why he can accept his riding days are over. The talented jockey who has ridden nearly 700 winners is still recovering from horrific injuries he sustained in a race fall at Moruya back in January.
His body was so badly broken, his injuries so severe, doctors told his fiancée, KC Osborne, to prepare for the worst.
But Spriggs defied the odds. His recovery continues, albeit slowly, but the reality is he will never ride again.
Spriggs, 33, visited his neurosurgeon earlier this week where he received the inevitable medical advice.
"I have micro-bleeds on the brain and my neurologist advised me if I sustained another concussion, it would basically kill me,'' Spriggs said.
"It puts everything into perspective. I was walking into that appointment with the theory I would not be riding again anyway.
"But that advice has left me with no thought of whether I should try to return.
"Now I look at it like my son, Brooklyn, gets a father and that's the most important thing. I nearly wasn't here, I was as close as you get to going without going.''
Spriggs remembers nothing of that day when a fall at Moruya races ended his career. It nearly ended his life, too.
His injuries were severe. Fractured left forearm and collarbone, dislocated left elbow, all but two of his ribs were broken, both lungs collapsed, his liver was haemorrhaging, his kidneys shut down, and he had bruising to the brain.
"Essentially, I was on the track drowning in my own blood, but the paramedics saved my life,'' Spriggs said.
"I was rushed to hospital and KC was told to prepare for the worst as they were not sure I was going to make it.
"I don't have any memory of that as I was heavily sedated for about two weeks.
"When they tried to bring me out of sedation the machines would start going off, so they had to keep putting me back under.''
When Spriggs finally woke, he had no idea what had happened or where he was. He was intubated and unable to move.
"I had a whiteboard because I couldn't talk with the tubes I had in,'' he said. "But the first thing I wrote on the board made everyone cry. I said ‘I'm fine'.''
Blake Spriggs being supported by fiancée KC and Son Brooklyn
The truth was Spriggs was not "fine". His road to recovery was going to be long and painful.
"I realised I was in a bad way but the doctors and nurses at Canberra Hospital were amazing,'' he said.
"I am very grateful to those doctors and nurses who saved my life and I stay in contact with them on social media.
"I almost died doing my job and they saved mine doing theirs. It says a lot about these people.
"I said the day you guys go on strike for a pay rise I will be there marching with you. It's a tough job they do, the hours they work, and they go through some hard times trying to save people and they keep turning up every day and go through it again.
"It is a little bit weird in a way but after I was born in Canberra Hospital, I left on January 17 and had not gone back there for 33 years until I was taken there after the fall. So, that hospital has given me life twice.''
Spriggs is concentrating on the healing process and that necessitates putting any future career plans on hold for now.
"At the moment I'm not sure what I am going to do,'' he said.
"My neurologist said it will be 12 months to three years before my brain returns to as close to where it was, but it will never be the same.
"I will have memory issues and focus issues. I've noticed my memory is not as good, but it is slowly getting better.
"My focus is OK if I am talking to someone one-on-one but if I am in a room with people talking around me, I do find it harder to focus on the person I am talking to.
"But that is all good. If that is the worst of my worries, I can accept that.
"I kind of promised myself I would not make a decision on what I would do next until January next year based on my neurologist's advice.
His riding career might be over, but Spriggs has so much to look forward to in life including getting married.
BLAKE SPRIGGS with his fiancée KC Osborne
"KC and I have had to put our wedding on hold with everything else that has been going on, but we can start to plan for it now,'' Spriggs said.
"I'm also spending a lot of time with our little boy, Brooklyn, and I'm loving it.
"I remember when I left hospital after four weeks, I had lost that connection with him which was heartbreaking. I think that hurt me more than my broken bones, more than anything.
"But since then, I have been able to rebuild that relationship with Brooklyn and now I can spend all my time with him.
"When I walk in the door, he runs up to me yelling ‘Daddy'. It has made me realise how lucky I was to survive this fall. I only went to work for him to give him the best and all he wanted was me.''
"I hate sitting still, I love to be busy. I've always kept busy, but my neurologist said to me the less stress you put your body through, the more rest you get and the more happiness in your life then the better your recovery would be.''
Team Dynamic take this opportunity to thank Blake for his involvement with us over the years and wish him the very best in his new chapter in life.
Here is a pictorial of just a handful of the wonderful memories our mate Blake gave us during his career:
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Thank you Blake ! Onwards and Upwards!