“It’s funny what a difference a year makes – this time last year we were lifting the Champion Stakes trophy and this year we’re laid up watching it!”, Jim Crowley laughed, speaking to the IJF Newsletter on British Champions Day. Things definitely look different: Anmaat, the horse he partnered to five Group-race victories, has been retired and Jim is recovering from some of the worst injuries of his career, but there is no sign he will be hanging up his boots and remains incredibly positive.
At York on 7th September, Jim’s mount Almeraq came down in a six furlong Listed contest, “When I hit the ground, I pretty much knew straightaway I was in a little bit of trouble. All jockeys will tell you when they hit the floor they wiggle their toes and things like that. I was in quite a lot of pain immediately and I was found to have a fractured tibia and fibula and my pelvis, and I had internal bleeding as well. I was taken to Leeds intensive care and operated on immediately for the internal bleeding, I went under that night”, Jim explained, “The next day, they put a rod from my knee down to my ankle straight through my leg, straight through my tibia, with screws at the top and bottom to stabilise that and, then, I had a plate put in my pelvis with six screws and then another two screws in my pelvis to stabilise it”.
Within all of this, Jim still feels immensely appreciative, “It was a tough week in intensive care, but then I moved to another ward and I’m very grateful I had lots of visitors. It was really lovely to meet Jack Berry and it was really nice, people I haven’t seen for years came to visit me and I think the whole thing is a very humbling experience. You’re basically helpless, you can’t do anything.
“The IJF were fantastic. I think it’s Mark who came up to see me and Dr Jerry Hill. The hospital bit obviously wasn’t great, but I also felt as well that I was extremely lucky because obviously some of my friends and colleagues have not been so fortunate, so there was a sense of feeling lucky that I was okay and I would make a recovery even though things were pretty awful at the time. It didn’t really upset me or anything, it is what it is really, just grateful that it could’ve been a lot worse”.
The injuries are significant, like nothing he has ever experienced before in his career, “I’ve had a few tumbles over the years, jumping and on the flat, broken collarbones and I’ve actually had my right clavicle removed, and I’ve fractured my neck and things like that, and my shoulders, but this was by far the worst I’ve had.
I’m quite lucky that I’m fit for my age. I’m 47, but I certainly don’t feel it. I’d be in the gym most days before this happened, so I think that will be helpful for my recovery”. Jim is already back in the gym, “I’m only doing my upper body, I’m still in a wheelchair and you have to push yourself: it would be quite easy for me to lie in bed all day, but that’s just not me. Sometimes you don’t feel like it, but you’ve just got to really”.
The next step is to head to Oaksey House, “I live down in Sussex and luckily for me they have some excellent facilities where I can go down and stay there potentially three days at a time and the sooner I can get back to some normality is a goal, because not being able to get around and not very mobile is very frustrating. Having seen people like Graham Lee and Freddy Tylicki, it gives you a small understanding – only a very small understanding – of what they go through.
“I could sit around, but I feel fortunate that I am able to be given an opportunity by the IJF. I haven’t been to Oaksey House yet, but I’m planning on going there next week and I’m really looking forward to it. I have never really been in a position to use their facilities and I’m so grateful it is there for me to benefit from now”.
The support from the IJF, of course, does not start with Oaksey House, “I must say I’ve never really had to use the IJF before and what they do until you need them you don’t realise. They are amazing, they really are, and Jack Berry was amazing to meet and to see all the places over Britain and what they’ve got in place for jockeys now. We’re very, very lucky to have it!
“Since I got back to Sussex, the IJF have been fantastic and helped me out so I can go around in a wheelchair and so I’m whizzing around on that and I’m hoping that my recovery will be a lot quicker than prediction by the doctors. They sort of said six to nine months, but that’s for normal people and, as jockeys, we are not normal. As a whole, jockeys are not normal! We’re all quite fit and we’ve got a very strong mindset. I’ve set myself little goals along the way that I’m trying to meet”.
Ultimately, the intention is to return to race riding and return to top level success, like with Anmaat on Champions Day, “That’s my goal. We all have to have a goal, big or small ones, whatever they may be, but I still feel like I’ve got more to give. It would be quite easy for me to stop and call it a day, but there would be a part of me thinking I haven’t quite gone out on my terms, shall we say. So, that is going to spur me on. When I do come back, I’d like to be fitter than I was before!”
*Samantha Martin speaking to Jim Crowley for the Injured Jockeys Fund