Racing rallies around Richard 'Sparky' Bevis after head lad for Nigel Twiston-Davies put in induced coma following farm accident

Nigel Twiston-Davies said his team have been left "devastated" after the trainer's right-hand man for close to two decades, Richard 'Sparky' Bevis, was placed in an induced coma following an accident over the weekend.

Bevis, 53, fractured his skull and eye socket when working at his farm on Saturday. Although the details are unclear, given he was alone when the incident happened, it is believed he may have been struck by a piece of machinery. He was taken into intensive care at Bristol Southmead hospital where a fracture was operated on. He remains sedated and on a ventilator.

Bevis trained for a few years before joining the Twiston-Davies yard 18 years ago as head lad through a golden spell for the powerful Cheltenham operation. He looked after and regularly rode out the stable's 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander and also played a major role in the preparation of Bristol De Mai, a five-time Grade 1 winner.

Twiston-Davies said: "He's been here through all the good days. He came here as a head lad having trained in his own right and he's been a very big part of everything that's happened. We're all devastated by the news, everybody's concerned and we're all doing our best. We're missing him and sending him our very best."

Many of those connected to the stable have donated to Bevis's GoFundMe page, set up by his son William, which has raised over £35,000 for the family. His brother, and licence holder, Robert said the family have been moved by racing's support.

"People's kindness has been unbelievable," said the trainer. "The signs are that he'll be okay but it's too early to say. 

"He's been quite poorly and is being kept sedated and on a ventilator. He's had a skull fracture which has fractured his eye socket, so he's had to have quite a lengthy operation to remove a little bit of bone which had gone in. It's difficult to say, we're in the lap of the gods. We'll know more in a week's time when they try to wake him up.

"He's got his own little farm which he's built up and he tinkers about with sheep and things but we don't really know what's happened as he was on his own. He's had an accident and something's hit him but we don't really know, we think he was lifting some big bags on the end of a loader – that's all we can work out at the minute."

Support Richard 'Sparky' Bevis's GoFundMe page