Neck break no hurdle for glam jockey

Laura Cheshire. Photo / Supplied.

It's not a pretty picture. Kiwi glamour jockey Laura Cheshire is holed up in an Australian hospital with a broken neck - and a metal contraption screwed into her skull.

But the racing star - who once posed semi-naked for a women jockeys' calendar - is just thankful she will be able to walk and ride again, after her 500kg horse rolled on her at Ipswich racecourse last week.

"I'm lucky I got away with what I did because a broken neck can mean a lot of things," the 26-year-old told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Cheshire, who moved from New Zealand to Australia three years ago, spent Christmas in Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital after the Christmas Eve fall.

Her horse, Yankee Dollar, rolled on her after breaking its leg.

"I got knocked out. Apparently the horse fell on top of me," she said.

"The clerk of the course told me when she came around the corner behind us she could only see my cap, so I was under the actual horse."

According to the Bulletin, when Cheshire regained consciousness, she yelled at paramedics not to touch her hands because they were burning.

It was initially thought her injuries were a potential fracture before doctors uncovered the nerve damage as the result of a swollen spine.

"I had no idea I had broken my neck," she said. "Even in hospital they said your x-rays are clear for your wrists and I said, 'What about my hands?' and they said, 'No, that's clear as well'.

"I said, 'Oh well, I've got out of this with nothing', and they said, 'You've broken your neck'.

"When they said it, I actually wasn't too worried because I could feel my feet - I knew I was able to walk."

Doctors screwed a protective halo to Cheshire's skull. She is expected to be wearing it for between two and three months.

"They drilled the halo into my skull. It wasn't the funniest experience but I can walk around, though," she said.

The Bulletin described Cheshire as rising from "a relative nobody from New Zealand to one of the Gold Coast's most consistent performers every Saturday".

Cheshire hopes to be out of hospital in the next few days.

She admits she is apprehensive about returning home.

"I'll be able to go home when they sort the medication out for my hands. When it wears off, my hands start burning because of the nerve damage," she said.

Cheshire expects to be back to normal health within three months, but will take her time mounting a comeback. "I won't rush myself."