The jockey Henry Brooke is in an induced coma after suffering serious injuries when he fell from his horse at Hexham racecourse.
A statement released by the Injured Jockeys Fund said the 25-year-old had been taken to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle following the fall on Saturday and was in a stable condition overnight.
“He is in an induced coma to assist him with his breathing and his condition this morning remains stable,” the statement read. “His family would like to thank everyone for their support and well wishes.”
Brooke appeared to be struck on the helmet by the hoof of another horse when his horse, Old Storm, fell at the second fence of the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase. Racing was delayed for nearly two hours while Brooke was treated on the track. Fellow jockey Bryan Cooper also suffered a suspected broken arm in the fall.
On Saturday evening, Brooke’s mother, Julia, said her son had broken his collarbone and had been put in an induced coma prior to being airlifted to hospital because of a problem with his lung.
“I think he must have a collapsed lung as they had to put a tube in, which is why it took so long for them to get him to Newcastle, I think,” she said.
On Sunday, the jockey’s agent, Richard Hale, told the Racing Post: “I heard last night they were leaving him in his coma. They’d obviously induced it but they were going to leave him there overnight but I haven’t heard anything more this morning.
“I think he had fluid on his lung and they had been draining that off but that’s the last I heard. They induced him just before they took him away from the track.”
Brooke competed in the last four Grand National races and led the field on the first circuit of this year’s race. He was the winner of the 2012 British Conditional Jockeys Championship.
