JUMPS jockey Henry Brooke is close to a return after a miraculous recovery from a fall that was close to paralysing him.
Brooke fractured his neck back in November but is already lining up a comeback in the coming weeks.
Brooke suffered the nasty injury when schooling horses at Oliver Greenall’s yard and feared he may be out for most of the season.
The injury was only inches from leaving him paralysed but Brooke far from realised at the time.
He revealed to SunSport that the injury was only picked up when he drove himself for what he thought would just be a quick check-up.
But for Brooke – who was once put into an induced coma after a fall at Hexham – it hasn’t put the 31-year-old off making another swift return.
He said at the time: “I’ve been told February 11 is the absolute first day I will physically have a chance of getting back on a horse again.
“Well as far as I’m concerned, February 11 definitely WILL be the first day I get back on one – rain, sleet or snow, that’s happening!
“It’s like an addiction for all of us. The money’s not brilliant, there is a lot of risk, but we love riding horses – and there’s always another level to get to.”
And it looks like that date is still in Brooke’s diary, with his work at Jack Berry House paying off and just the doctor’s tests to pass now.
He told the Racing Post: “I’m hoping to be back on the track on either February 10 or 11.
“I need to speak to Dr Jerry Hill and I’ve got a few tests to do but I’m pretty sure I’ll pass.
“I’m in great order and I’ve got more muscle tone than I’ve ever had in my life.
“I’ve been in the gym from four weeks after the fall. I did two weeks with the solid neck brace on, another two with a soft collar and I’m now in my fourth week with no collar at all.
“I was on to it from early on and that’s half the reason I’m going to get back so soon. There’s no trace of the injury in my neck, I feel absolutely fine and I can do whatever I want in the gym.”
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