TOP jockey Danny Cook has featured in an eventful documentary on Channel 5 that detailed his horrific eye injury.
Cook, 37, was rushed to A&E after a nasty fall left him in need of emergency attention.
The rider has already told Sun Sport he could be forced to retire as he has struggled to regain his full sight.
But the programme reveals how worried doctors were when he attended hospital in Hull.
After being rushed to A&E in an ambulance following a fall at Market Rasen in October, Cook described the fall to Dr Kelum before being looked over.
The doctor said: “Some sports can cause significant injuries. It can potentially endanger life as well.”
The episode of A&E After Dark shows the work carried out by doctors after they saw the deep lacerations around Cook’s eyes.
These could cause long-lasting damage if not acted on.
Dr Kelum added: “Missing an eye injury can cause serious danger, so you just can’t afford to miss them.
“The patient can lose eyesight permanently so we have to be careful with the examination.”
Cook was taken for a full CT scan as Dr Kelum was unable to work out the full extent of the injury just from looking.
He added: “Any patients with head injuries, another major worry is whether they have a brain bleed.
“So we have to try and take a scan within an hour time period. If there is a significant bleed then it can endanger life.”
Cook had hoped to have made a quick return to a saddle, but his eye continues to trouble him and treatment is harder to get with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He told SunSport: “I’m still not any better to be honest, everything is being put on hold because of Covid. I’ve had a few appointments but things keep getting pushed back or cancelled.
“Where I fractured my eye socket and cheekbone, my eye has sunk down to the right hand side, so I couldn’t physically see out of the eye.
“When I’m bent over in the saddle, my eye naturally rotates upwards and I get completely blurred vision.
“Surgery would probably have to be the way to go. The eyelid will have to be lifted, a bit like a facelift, and then we need to get to the bottom of what’s going on with the blurred vision.
“Some nerves have probably been damaged, so I don’t really know what can happen with that situation.
“It’s all a bit up in the air and I don’t know if they can do anything. And they did warn me that if they did operate there is a chance my vision could get worse.”
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