Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
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By James Burn, Lambourn Correspondent
Page Fuller spoke candidly on Monday about suffering a mini-stroke during a race at Fontwell last week which left his future in the saddle uncertain.
Fuller was riding Touchthesoul for Jo Davis in a 2m2f handicap pursuit at the Sussex track on Friday, but pulled the gelding past the first fence, which she jumped with limited vision.
Speaking from hospital on Monday, Fuller said: “I jumped out feeling great, but I felt a little funny and I really couldn’t see anything on my right side. I was at the inside and couldn’t see any of the horses at I looked around and could see them with my left eye, but not with my right eye.
“Going into the fence, my vision collapsed and I could only see him, but luckily the horse kinda saved my life and got me through. When I went to pull him, I realized my right arm was weak and in spasm with pins and needles.”
Marc Cranham
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Fuller primarily rides for Jamie Snowden’s Lambourn yard and partnered with a 2nd year winner for the coach at Sandown in 2021 when Anythingforlove hit in the Jane Seymour Novices’ Hurdle.
She added: “I had crashed in Plumpton a few weeks ago and was a bit stiff after that but thought nothing of it.
“Whiplash trauma can cause a tear inside the arteries in your neck. I had a tear and where it tried to heal by coagulation it created a clot and caused a small stroke cerebral.
“It’s rare and only a small stroke. I have the MRI results and hope there’s no major brain damage, but you only know that when you try to start to do things.”
“I have to think about what this means for me in the long term”
Snowden’s stable jockey Gavin Sheehan was also riding at Fontwell and drove Fuller’s car home before it went to Swindon Hospital for tests.
She remains optimistic about her prognosis, but thoughts of a return to the saddle are not at the front of her mind.
Getty Images
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“Yesterday was a very good day and today is not so good, but I’m really grateful that it was in a controlled environment,” she said. “It could have been a worse stroke and I could have driven home. Everyone has been so good and supportive ever since.
“I got a bit better when I got off the horse, but I still felt weird and couldn’t quite figure out what had happened. Nothing kind of stuck, which is a good sign and my brain was not deprived of oxygen for too long. .
“At the end of the day, my health is the priority now, so I have to think about what this means for me in the long term,” she said, “but I won’t know until I know how. I’m healing.”
The 27-year-old hopes to leave hospital this week and will use the facilities at Oaksey House, the rehabilitation center for jockeys in Lambourn.
“Things will depend on how the artery heals,” she added. “It’s going to be a long process, but I’m going to have the right people around me with Oaksey House. I’m confident I haven’t had any significant effects in terms of dexterity, so hopefully I can get back to normal , but you can never take that for granted.
“When you say stroke it sounds awful because strokes can be awful, but I hope – as everyone is talking about – that I’m at the less serious end of what it could have been.
“Although it’s a shock to me and my family, I’m going home soon and my family are aware of the risks of being a jockey anyway – they’re doing pretty well!”
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