South Australia’s reigning premier jockey Raquel Clark faces an uncertain riding future after suffering a brain injury in a fall.
Clark continues to recuperate from the injury she suffered when she fell from a horse after the finish line in a race at Morphettville last month.
“They just called it a traumatic brain injury,” Clark told RSN 927.
“When I fell the left side of the back of my head was the part that got really damaged. They said they were little bleeds to the brain and it all turns into bruising, is what I can gather from it.
“They looked at it and said to me, look a football player has to have three weeks off when they get about three dots of this on their brain, and I had over 30 on my brain.
“So they were quite quick to tell me that I will be stood down for a long time.”
The 26-year-old admits there is a possibility she may not be able to ride again.
“Unfortunately it is a possibility, at the moment,” she said.
“But I’ve been too worried about my health to even think too much about that. Of course the doctors have mentioned it to me a little bit. But I’ll focus on getting better and when I’m 100 per cent I’ll make those decisions myself.”
Clark said the injury has had an effect on her balance and memory.
“The differences have been really big in some circumstances but it’s a bit hard at the same time because I have a body that is ready to go,” she said.
“My body could get back on a racehorse tomorrow. It’s just my brain that cannot.”
Clark, who is from Tasmania, has starred in South Australian racing in the past couple of years, winning both the state and metropolitan jockeys’ premierships last season.
While she admits she has had some emotional moments in recent weeks, the jockey remains positive and says she has an amazing support base of family and friends.
“I try and look at things positive,” she said.
“I’ve actually got Christmas with the family this year, unlike the last couple, so I’ll just look at all the positives in life, I think.”
