Trainer-driver Taylor Ford could be sidelined for an extended period after a freak accident while leading a horse at the Parwan training facilities of champion horsewoman Jodi Quinlan.
Quinlan spoke with thetrots.com.au and described the frightening incident that left the 27-year-old with head and neck injuries.
“She was leading a horse into the stables and it threw its head up in the air and came down and hit her right on the side of the head,” Quinlan said of the August 30 incident.
“It knocked her clean out. She was unresponsive for quite a while. I struggled to get her to breathe properly. I worked on her for a while until the ambulance came, and she was in and out of consciousness for quite a while also.”
Once the medical team arrived, Ford was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital.
“There was an ambulance and two paramedics. They rushed her straight to Royal Melbourne. They did some CT scans and MRIs. We are still awaiting the results of other tests, but so far it’s been found she’s got a decent head knock, so she has a bad concussion there. But her neck has two bulging discs and one of the discs is touching her spinal cord.”
Ford remains in a neck brace and is awaiting further specialist advice.
“We go back Wednesday to the orthopedic specialist to see what the take is on the neck, and we will learn more about a plan moving forward. They are not sure if it’s a swelling thing that could go down in time and subside itself.
“She has had quite a lot of tests, but the neck is the concern. The other injuries are a time-healing thing. With her head, it’s a typical head injury and she is very tired. She feels good for an hour and runs out of steam. So she basically can’t do anything with that and the spinal cord.”
Quinlan admitted the incident left her badly shaken.
“I was frightened. It was bizarre because she was just leading a horse back in. I just happened to walk out the rear entrance and I heard her and I looked and she was going down to the ground. Obviously, I was there within seconds and she was unresponsive, and the part that frightened me the most was that I couldn’t get her to breathe consistently and she went purple in the face. Waiting for the ambulance felt like an hour, but it was probably 15 to 20 minutes max.
“When I couldn’t get her to be responsive and breathe properly, it just really blew me away. In those situations, your adrenaline takes over and you do what you need to do, but it hits you when you walk away.
“It’s hurt me as far as work goes, as Taylor is obviously my foreman and she did all the fast work. She always drove the pacemaker or vice versa, and it’s made it a bit harder for me now as I need to work them on my own while also taking her to all the appointments.”
Ford found reason to smile on Sunday night when she landed her first training double in Victoria, with Justlikedave and Precious Belle winning at Cranbourne with Quinlan in the sulky.
“It was bittersweet because going there she knew she couldn’t help and touch the horses. And Justlikedave, he is her baby. He is named after Dave Medhurst who helped Taylor when he was young. He passed away in a car accident, so she got this horse at the sales as he was Tasbred and named him after Dave.
“It was hard for her to go there and not be able to drive him or do anything with him. But it was extra special as it was Dave’s anniversary last week, so she was quite emotional.”
For Quinlan, there is relief mixed with perspective.
“She feels unlucky but I will tell you she is very lucky, because at one stage I thought it was touch and go,” she said.
Ford has trained 27 career winners and driven 138 in a career spanning more than a decade.
