O’Brien on mend after fall

A “VERY LUCKY” Ana O’Brien does not need surgery after scans on the 21-year-old’s neck and spine delivered upbeat news.

O’Brien (below), daughter of trainer Aidan, suffered multiple fractured vertebrae when Druids Cross, saddled by her brother Joseph, slipped up at Killarney on Tuesday evening.

But a CT scan in hours after the fall revealed the jockey had escaped brain injury, and MRI scans to her neck and back also returned positive results.

“She doesn’t require surgery,” said Adrian McGoldrick, chief medical officer to Ireland’s Turf Club.

“It was a high-speed fall on good to firm ground at 40mph, so she’s been very lucky.

“She will be in a neck and chest brace for three to four months, and then will start physiotherapy after that. But all in all — the CT scan to her brain on Tuesday night was clear — it’s excellent news.”