Bridget Andrews: 'I fell four weeks ago - it turned out I'd broken my neck'

Bridget Andrews is counting her blessings after discovering, two weeks after a fall at Warwick, that she has been left with a broken neck. The Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey is now wearing a brace but has been assured a full recovery is likely within a matter of weeks.

Her injury was caused by last month's final-fence tumble of Dazzling Glory, who was a close second when the eventual winner jumped right, bumping the mare's shoulder as she landed and causing her to fall. The first part of Andrews to hit the ground was the top of her head.

"Initially, I got up and thought I was okay," the 28-year-old said on Wednesday. "And then I hadn't really got better in the few days afterwards and went for an MRI scan on my back and my neck. Nothing really showed up. I had a few more x-rays and still nothing showed up.

"I eventually went for a CT scan, just to clear it all up and hopefully get back to race-riding if it was all clear and it turned out I had broken my neck in three places." Andrews has two fractures to her C2 vertebra, another to her C6 and a crack in her T5.

"The stewards gave me the head-on footage, so I could show it to the doctors. Looking back, there's no way I could have been okay, from the way I landed. I obviously was walking round for two weeks, not having realised. So that showed everything was stable.

"I'm now in a neck brace and I'll be in that for around another four weeks. They're all stable fractures and all in line. The neck specialist was confident that, as long as I went steady, it would heal on its own."

Protektorat: Grade 2 winner under Bridget Andrews at AintreeCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Fortunately, the jockey, who scored a Grade 2 success aboard Protektorat in December, reports having suffered no pain as a result of the fall. "My head felt very heavy and I was very stiff but I wouldn't call it pain. The neck brace is uncomfortable and I get a bit tired if I've been stood around for a while or been busy."

Andrews was planning a quiet summer on the riding front in any case, so will not be rushing back into action.

"I'll take my time," she added. "It's my neck, so I don't want to get that wrong. Potentially, I could climb back on a couple of months from the fall but we'll see.

"Okay, I haven't been lucky because I've broken my neck but I'm walking around, I'm not stuck in hospital and there's a lot of people in a much worse position, so I'm feeling pretty lucky.

"I definitely won't let this finish me off. I must be nearer the end than the beginning of my career but I'll definitely be back."

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