Assistant trainer suffers life-changing injuries in freak gallops accident

Assistant trainer Adrian Grain is in intensive care after a freak accident that had those closest to him believing he would not survive.

Grain was flown by air ambulance to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough after a horse fell on his head and crushed his throat, breaking four vertebrae in his neck.

He came off a ventilator on Thursday and, although his prognosis is still unclear, his injuries are life-changing and a fundraising drive to support him has been set up.

Grain, 71, is assistant to his long-term partner Mark Weatherer at Norton Grange Stables in Malton, North Yorkshire.

Adrian Grain: 'He always wears a back protector and he had his helmet on but she got him in the place where they meet'Credit: Karen Woods

Recounting the incident, Karen Woods, who organises two syndicates that own eight of the 20 horses in the yard, said: "It was horrendous. Ady was riding Leannes Lady, which he's done every day since she came to the yard, and they were only doing medium-canter work on the all-weather.

"We don't really know what happened, we think she may have overreached or clipped her heel, but she pitched Ady out of the front of the saddle and fell and landed on his head, completely crushing his throat and breaking the four vertebrae in his neck. It was a totally freak accident. He always wears a back protector and he had his helmet on but she got him in the place where they meet.

"Although Ady was really struggling to speak, he wouldn't get in the air ambulance until the paramedics had conveyed his message to people around that Leanne had to be looked after and it wasn't her fault. That's all he was concerned about. Ady is the sort of person who would give you his last shilling or the shoes off his feet but if you hurt one of his horses you'd be in deep trouble."

Adrian Grain: 'If it weren't for the air ambulance, he would be dead, without a doubt'Credit: Karen Woods

Grain was operated on the next day and Woods said: "He's very poorly and still in intensive care. He's got tubes all over him so he can't talk. He can't cough so when mucus or saliva builds up he has to have a nurse come and clear it. But the last time the nurse did it he was trying to wriggle, having previously had no movement at all, so that's a good sign.

"We don't know whether he's going to be paraplegic or quadraplegic, all we know for sure is that he's not going to ride again.

"They discovered in the operation that his spinal cord is severely twisted at the C4 area, just above where the body protector goes round. If it weren't for the air ambulance, he would be dead, without a shadow of doubt. If they'd tried to move him to get him into a road ambulance it would have snapped and that would have been it."

Woods set up the GoFundMe page to help Grain, with an initial target of raising £10,000 to help with the cost of changes needed after the accident.

"We all thought he was going to die last week but then when we realised he wouldn't but would have life-changing injuries we picked what we thought was an achievable figure," she said.

"They live in a bungalow that's got to be adapted for a wheelchair to get in. The bathroom has got to be adapted and we don't know what equipment they'll need. If he doesn't need as much as we raise, any surplus will go to the air ambulance that was so instrumental in helping him."

Adrian Grain: assistant to his long-term partner Mark Weatherer in MaltonCredit: Karen Woods

Weatherer, who has been training for five years, had his first runners since the accident at Newcastle on Monday.

"Mark is running on adrenaline," Woods said. "He's doing his job and Ady's, pouring his energy into the horses then driving up to hospital in Middlesbrough every day to see him. They've been together over 20 years and it's the most horrendous thing."

Donations can be made here.