Jockey’s ‘scary’ spinal injury leaves future uncertain
Maija Vance doesn’t know if she will walk again but is refusing to give up hope.
The Cambridge jockey, who has an incomplete spinal cord injury, has limited movement from the waist down following a horrific fall during a hurdle race at Rotorua on September 16.
In a matter of seconds, Vance’s life went from a chance of winning a race to losing much of her independence.
Vance’s mount, Zedsational, fell at the second-last fence when fighting for the lead.
The 27-year-old was catapulted forward through the air and landed on the back of her neck.
Her injuries included two punctured lungs, that needed blood drained out of them, damage to five vertebrae and her spinal cord, broken ribs, six broken teeth, a badly severed tongue and bruises and abrasions to much of her body.
The following day she had a fourhour operation – where pins and plates were inserted – to stabilise her spine and protect her spinal cord.
The small amount of feeling she has in her legs is ‘‘weird’’.
‘‘I’ve got a little bit of feeling in my legs but some places I’ve got no feeling. And where I’ve got a little bit of feeling it’s not like a normal feeling. It’s very scary,’’ Vance said.
‘‘If you run a hand up and down my leg I get pins and needles so I can feel that something’s happening but I can’t feel what the hand is doing or where it is.
‘‘It’s just like a sensation that something is happening but it’s like I can’t feel the skin,’’ she said.
Vance might be facing an uncertain future but she understands a positive attitude and a willingness to fight will give her the best chance.
As the racing industry holds its breath for one of its own, Vance is bravely committing to do whatever is needed to make a full recovery.
The nature of Vance’s spinal injury means medical experts can offer few certainties at this early stage.
‘‘They really can’t say anything,’’ Vance said.
‘‘It’s an incomplete spinal cord injury which means there is still some attachment even though it is damaged so they can’t actually tell how much it is going to improve.
‘‘The maximum recovery time is about 18 months. Some people have not been able to move their legs for close to 18 months then they start to get movement.
‘‘I’m really hoping it is not going to take that long for me but it might be the case.
‘‘The doctors keep saying it’s only early days but I tell them I’m already over it,’’ Vance said with a chuckle.
An accomplished flat jockey who was just starting out in jumps racing, Vance has won 94 races in New Zealand with 14 of them coming in the recently completed season.
Following almost two weeks in Middlemore hospital, Vance was moved across Auckland to a specialist spinal unit on Thursday. Most of Vance’s injuries were caused by the sickening impact with the track but she believes her broken teeth and some of her extensive bruising were caused by a kick from Zedsational as he cartwheeled over top of her. She remembers most of the frightful fall.
Vance faces a long road ahead but her Auckland based parents, Bob and Jenny Vance, who both enjoyed successful careers as jockeys, are by her side.
Vance, who enjoys a special bond with Zedsational, has no ill feelings towards him or the racing industry following the fall.
‘‘I love him,’’ she told Stuff.