Turning Point
January 11th, 1992 - Butch Cassidy

January 11th, 1992 will go down as a very devastating day for myself. This day and the outcome of this day has made me into a better man beyond all belief! Here's how the story goes:

I had already finished riding in 2 races with no winners, but things looked brighter as I was up to ride Butch Cassidy, who with me in the saddle, had won his last two races.

However, as things would turn out we finished 3rd and just after the finish line on the way galloping out, Butch Cassidy fainted and fell putting me on the ground. I didn't know this story until approx. 2 weeks later as upon impact, I went in a coma for 2 weeks.

I was off for 4  months due to this accident doing phisio, speech and occupational therapy, but thank God I made a complete recovery, with no lasting side effects. The accident had caused me to have a delayed blood clot on the left side of my brain which is the reason why I ended up in the coma. After 2 weeks in hospital I woke up and it was like I had fallen yesterday! I had no memory of the accident nor did I remember riding the two horses before Butch Cassidy and this leads to believe that it was because the accident had effected my short term memory.

Any trauma to the brain as I had, normally has severe effects to the motor capabilities of the body afterwards and so did I. I was 'paralysed' to some extent and couldn't even walk without assistance. The whole right side of my body was also paralysed including the tongue, which explains why I needed speech and physio therapy. The short term memory failure after the accident was resolved over the next few months by extensive occupational therapy. Thanks goes out to all who assisted and helped me during these times!

Nevertheless, I continued racing as it is a great love of mine, in 4 months, which was 2 months earlier than the Doctors expected and finished 3rd on one of my favourite horses, "Man's Wish" (Picture below), which I won 7 races on, during my career in Barbados.