JERRY McGRATH feared he was paralysed in his terrifying Lingfield fall.
And the top jockey has revealed the full extent of his horrific injuries which will keep him in hospital for another week.
McGrath, 29, was one of three jockeys sent crashing to earth in the jaw-dropping pile-up on Monday.
Weighing room colleagues Alexander Thorne and Jordan Nailor also came down during the incident but they avoided serious injury.
And all three horses were unhurt.
But Cheltenham Festival-winning rider McGrath – who was aboard even money favourite Vegas Blue – was rushed to Brighton hospital for emergency surgery after coming off worst.
And it is there he will stay after already undergoing two operations to repair his hip and shoulder.
Speaking to the Racing Post, McGrath said: “When I was on the ground one of the horses was on top of me on my leg and when they took him off I didn’t feel anything.
“I couldn’t feel my legs – so to be honest anything better than that is a bonus.
“I hit the all-weather and you don’t bounce on it. Something has to give and it could have been worse.
McGrath reckons it will be six weeks before he can put weight on the leg
“I can’t thank the doctors enough. I was conscious and I remember being in the ambulance with the blue light flashing and it was fairly humbling. It brings you back to reality.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by all the messages and good-luck wishes, which have been brilliant as there have been a few low times since Monday.”
McGrath dislocated his left hip and shoulder and fractured both joints.
He spent a marathon eight hours under anaesthetic as doctors put back together his broken body.
McGrath added: “The first operation put the hip and then the shoulder back in.
“Then I went back under anaesthetic again for eight hours and they pinned and plated the hip and the shoulder because they were both fractured.
“I was lucky that the hip surgeon and the shoulder surgeon were in at the same time because in the current situation they’re not in as much as they used to be.”
‘In hospital for a week’
All in all it means a lengthy hospital stay for McGrath, who has nine winners so far this season.
And he anticipates not being able to put any weight onto his injured side for another six weeks.
McGrath said: “I think I’ll be in hospital for the next week, then it’s going to be a long road to recovery.
“It’s going to be six weeks before I can put any weight on the leg, so it will be a long time hopping around the place.
“I’m not going to put a timescale on it, I’m just looking forward to getting back in the saddle at some stage.”
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