Injured event rider on the mend

Event rider Jonty Evans told H&H he is in “good spirits” and is undergoing rehabilitation after breaking three vertebrae in a fall last month (27 June).

He told H&H he hopes to be back on a horse “once the fractures heal and he has been given the go-ahead” after an upcoming CT scan.

As well as the vertebrae, the Gloucestershire-based rider broke three ribs and suffered a brain haemorrhage — which affected mobility in his right leg — when he was bucked off in the school.

Jonty has since been having physio at the Injured Jockeys Fund rehabilitation centre Oaksey House in Lambourn, Berkshire.

The centre provides specialist therapy for injured riders. Fellow eventer Laura Collett also recovered here after her serious fall last summer.

Jonty told H&H that doctors were “delighted” with his progress.

The fractures should take around six weeks to heal, and he added his right leg is “much improved”.

He said that he was “walking sound” and he can perform all the actions with his foot, toes and leg that the physios task him with although it is still a little slow.

“The pathways are there but I need to sharpen the responses,” he added.

As well as all the work of the staff at Oaksey House, Jonty thanked all the support from the equestrian community.

“I’m so grateful for all the cards and messages — many via social media — that I’ve received,” he said.

“From family and friends to fence judges, event organisers, owners and fellow competitors it really helped me through, particularly the early days in hospital.”

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