Ray of hope for hoop following horror fall
A “WAVE of hope” has been delivered to the family of Leah Kilner after the young apprentice jockey was critically injured while riding on Sunday.
The 24-year-old was thrown from her horse Stella Turn at the Clarence River Jockey Club meeting in Grafton, NSW, about 75m from the finish in front of her family.
Ms Kilner was flown to Princess Alexandra Hospital and placed into an induced coma that night.
But on Monday she was briefly brought out of her coma and squeezed the hand of her mother Siobhan, who has not left her daughter’s side since the shocking incident.
“Leah remains in a stable condition in ICU at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane,” Racing NSW said in a statement on Tuesday.
“She briefly came out of her coma overnight and squeezed her mother’s hand. The hospital may bring her out of sedation gradually over the next 48 hours.”
Her boss Rob Heathcote confirmed the “positive” news, saying it gave her family a “wave of hope”.
“Talking to Siobhan last night, the emotion I could hear in her voice, the wave of hope that flowed through her after Leah woke up, opened her eyes, looked at her mum and squeezed her hand,” he told Sunrise. “So that is just brilliant.”
Ms Kilner was only woken for a short amount of time due to her injuries and the potential panic waking up from a coma can cause.
She was previously cleared of any spinal injuries but does have fractured ribs and a fractured clavicle.
The Brisbane-based jockey will continue to be brought in and out of comas over the coming days as part of her recovery, with the next attempt scheduled for Tuesday at lunchtime.
Mr Heathcote has been invited by the family to be there for it.
“Her mum wants me to talk into her ear to see if I can get her to wake up,” Mr Heathcote said.
Ms Kilner remains in an induced coma and will continue to be monitored for head injuries.
It comes during a tough 48 hours for the Australian racing community after fellow apprentice jockey Elissa Meredith was also critically injured in a race on Monday.
The 27-year-old. who was riding at Gunnedah, remains in an induced coma.