Top Rider Suffers Setback
23 April, 2019
Thoroughbred
A visit to the specialist last week has failed to provide any clarity for injured jockey, Brad Parnham.
The top rider was hoping to receive the all clear from the medical experts to resume riding again.
Parnham is itching to get back in the saddle, but spinal fusion surgery from last year has delayed his comeback again.
Parnham has been sidelined since fracturing his vertebra in his neck and breaking his hand in a bad fall at Ascot over 15-months ago.
“I saw the specialist last week and didn’t get the news that I wanted to hear,” Parnham told The Races WA.
“He told me to come back again and they will reassess it in another three months.
“But they give no guarantee that it will improve in that time.
“The spinal fusion is fine and is not the problem.
“It’s the ligaments that are not holding the vertebrae.”
Parnham was riding Scooner in the Heineken Handicap (2100m) in January, 2018, when the Stephen Miller-trained gelding blundered near the 800m and dislodged him.
Despite the latest hurdle that extends his long absence from riding, Parnham says he is determined to leave no stone unturned in his bid to fight back.
“I’m going to spend the next three months doing intensive therapy work and rehabilitation to give myself every chance,” Parnham said.
“It’s a similar programme that Formula 1 drivers use to strengthen their neck muscles.”
Parnham concedes there is a genuine chance he may not ride competitively again.
“I’m in a bit of limbo at the moment,” Parnham said.
“But I have to face what might be ahead of me.”
Julio Santarelli