January 23, 2009

PROMISING Sydney apprentice jockey Lachlan Fyfe has vowed to make a comeback to race riding as he continues to make a remarkable recovery from serious head injuries sustained in a racetrack fall last month.

"My goal down the track is to ride again," Fyfe said from his hospital bed in his first interview since the horror track accident at the Hawkesbury barrier trials.

Fyfe, 23, suffered severe bruising to the brain and was in a coma for 10 days after his mount, Mealtime, broke a leg and crashed to the turf in a barrier trial on December 15.

Doctors feared the worst as Fyfe struggled to regain consciousness after being placed in an induced coma but his family's prayers for a miracle were answered late morning on Christmas Day when the young jockey opened his eyes for the first time since the fall.

Fyfe's condition continues to improve daily but the apprentice knows his road to recovery has only just begun.

He still can't move his right arm or leg and has to be retaught even the most basic of motor skills but doctors believe he will eventually make a full recovery.

"It was only about a couple of weeks ago that I started to become aware of things again," Fyfe said. "I know I'm lucky. I'm OK, I feel all right - it's just the right side of my body. The doctors say it is time I need now."

Doctors say Fyfe needs another six months of intensive rehabilitation and a period of rest and recuperation before his recovery is complete.

Fyfe has set himself a target of returning to the saddle in 12 months times.

His loving, dutiful parents, Chris and Jenny, have been at their son's bedside since the trial accident and although they have their reservations, both will not stand in the way of Lachlan's dream to return to the saddle.

"Personally, I would prefer he didn't ride again," Chris Fyfe said. "But what I really want is to see Lachlan in a position where he can make that choice for himself."

Fyfe has had a steady stream of visitors at the brain injury unit of Ryde's Royal Rehabilitation Centre including former Australian Idol contestant Marty Simpson, who took time out from his national concert tour to visit his close friend during the week.

Racing NSW chief steward Ray Murrihy said an inquiry into Fyfe's fall was continuing.

"We do not have any race vision of the fall but we have taken a number of statements from witnesses," Murrihy said. "The preliminary view is that the horse snapped a leg and that was the cause of the fall."

An autopsy on Mealtime revealed the horse suffered a fracture of the cannon bone about 100m from the finish of the barrier trial.