Davy: I won’t stop children following in my stirrups
CHAMPION jockey and Dancing with the Stars contestant Davy Russell has suffered some horrific injuries throughout his glittering career – including a broken neck – but he said he won’t discourage his children from following him into the sport.
Speaking ahead on tonight’s episode, Russell said his weekly turns on the dancefloor are ‘like the Grand National every Sunday for me’, adding: ‘It’s so exciting… it’s huge.’
Russell is married to Edelle, a chemistry and maths teacher, and the couple have four children together; Lily, Finn, Liam and Tess. He also has a daughter from a previous relationship named Jaimee.
The jockey revealed two of his kids – Jaimee and Lily – are already proficient riders. And despite his own injuries, he said he would have no qualms about his children following him into horse racing.
‘When you break it down in the cold light of day it is tough… but we don’t think like that. And we never think like that. And at no stage in my career did I ever think I was going to fall off the horse. I was pretty confident that I was going to stay on them at all times and that’s the number one objective really,’ he said.
‘We have ponies and we ride them and they put in a lot of effort, and they are living their best life and they’re enjoying it. So I take the enjoyment from it rather than the risk. We try to outweigh the risks by trying to do it properly and safely.
‘So when they’re old enough to make up their own mind, I’m not going tell them to go one way or the other.’
He admits his own painful experiences do make him worry when he sees his children on a horse.
‘For my baby kids to get injured, that would be a huge worry, yes. But I don’t think like that. I find it hard to explain why my mindset is like that.
‘I suppose when you see someone getting knocked down by a car, it doesn’t stop you from crossing the road.’
Russell admitted his wife is ‘afraid of her life [of the children getting injured], but she doesn’t show it.’
But he said Edelle has really enjoyed watching him throw himself into a whole new challenge on the dancefloor every weekend.
‘She’s a great woman,’ said Russell, ‘she sees the enjoyment and she just goes with the flow. She was the one that wanted me to do it, and she pushed me to do it, so she kind of has to suffer the consequences in a limited way.
And he said his participation on the show has a hugely positive impact on all their children.
‘I think the real beauty of all of this are the kids. I’ve never seen them so excited, and I’ve never even seen them have so much to do… it’s helping them in so many ways.
‘The other night Edelle was away and I was at home on my own and I wanted to go to bed but they wouldn’t let me until they had performed their own routine that they had done for one of the dances.’