By Mike Dillon
Toby Autridge knows he's bought his last Lotto ticket.
The rugged, prominent 37-year-old jockey who broke his neck in a race fall at Ruakaka 10 days ago says he knows better than anyone he's used up a lifetime of luck.
He lies in traction in Whangarei acutely aware that the global steel frame keeping his head aligned came close to being a wooden box.
Autridge smashed four vertebra in his neck, including C2, often referred to in the business as "dead man's joint" because damaging it can cause instant death or at least paralysis.
He also has two fractured discs in his lower back, nearly every rib is smashed and his lungs are recovering from being punctured.
But the ex-jumps jockey's chipper personality reached even greater heights than usual as he was removed from the intensive care ward yesterday and he saw his children Joshua, 9, and 7-year-old Chloe for the first time since the accident.
You would not have known he wasn't lying on a beach. Forget the pain, it was great to be alive.
Great to know that eventually he will walk out of a hospital ward.
Autridge says he remembers the fall and the frightening first few minutes lying on the turf.
"The scariest part was not being able to breathe. My lungs completely collapsed after being punctured. There was no oxygen getting through.
"That's not something I ever want to go through again. I'm aware of how that alone came close to killing me."
The nurse who attended Autridge at the track visited him yesterday.
"You're the first jockey I've had in the ambulance who hasn't sworn," she told him.
"I would've if I could've," he replied.
Doctors won't tell Autridge how many ribs have been smashed.
"I've asked so many times the doctor finally said: "Let's say your best rib's only broken once."
Jockeys don't focus on pain. It's part of the job, and Autridge is too humbled by the thought of those who have not been as lucky to worry about pain.
But when pushed, he admits it was horrendous.
"Two days later, if someone had walked into the ward with a gun you'd have begged them to shoot you. You'd love for an easy way out."
The pain is now bearable, but the craving for a cigarette isn't.
He knows that's the best sign of all he's on the improve, but he won't be making any decisions about his riding future until his body has recovered in about six months.
Horse Racing: Autridge rides his luck to survive race fall
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