Injured Chillemi says he’s ‘lucky’ prang wasn’t so much worse
TOWNSVILLE has claimed the inaugural Coral Coast Shield, however a near tragedy in the lead up quickly put accolades and prizemoney into perspective.
Tolga trainer Roy Chillemi lived through one of the worst days of his life. The veteran horseman, who hand-picked “the Tolga Tornado” Tyzone, was involved in a car crash late last week, suffering a fracture in his spine.
But, just days after the incident, Chillemi said he was lucky he and his wife, who was in the car at the time, were not more seriously hurt.
“I could not breathe for a little while, it really winded me, we were very lucky in the end,” Chillemi said.
“My wife is in a better condition than me, thankfully.
“Honestly it was one of the worst days I have had in my life, with the crash and then going between the hospitals in the ambulance.
“It was a terrible few days.”
The perennial trainers premiership winner spent a couple of days in hospital and is now recovering at home on the Tablelands. Chillemi and his wife were driving to Cardwell when a bus rear-ended their car, spinning it around three times.
They were taken to Tully hospital before being moved to Innisfail hospital in an ambulance.
The experienced Tolga horseman has a fracture in his spine, which doctors suggested would force him away from handling horses or undertaking heavy duties for around six weeks.
While he could not be at Cluden on Saturday, Chillemi’s horses did run well, collecting four top-three finishes from five starters.
He has a number of horses engaged this coming Thursday at Cairns’ Cannon Park as well.
Townsville claimed the first Coral Coast Shield at Cluden on Saturday, as the FNQ stables failed to fire a shot on the final day of the event.