'My body shut down' - jockey Bryan Carver relives France ski fall trauma

Jump jockey Bryan Carver is recovering in hospital after a traumatic skiing accident in France.

Carver, 24, was airlifted to the southern French city of Grenoble and spent a week in intensive care following a fall on the slopes while on holiday during the one-week jump racing break at the end of April.

He required surgery on his spleen and was confined to his hospital bed, but is now out of intensive care and looking to fly home in the coming days.

Following the fall in the French Alps, Carver managed to get back down the mountain and it was only on visiting a local medical centre the severity of the injuries became known.

Speaking from the hospital in Grenoble on Monday, he said: "I didn't realise it at the time but I'd ruptured my spleen in the fall and it was only a few hours later my body went into shock.

"When I got to the local medical service, the doctor soon realised there was something majorly wrong and called an air ambulance and I was rushed to Grenoble hospital and operated on straight away.

"By the time I'd got to the hospital I'd already lost two and a half litres of blood and was in intensive care for a week, but thankfully now I'm out of there.

"I had the initial surgery and they were able to save the spleen and I've needed plenty of drugs, loads of rest and plenty of CT scans. The blood from my spleen was in my stomach and they had to keep a close eye on that but thankfully I didn't need more surgery or a blood transfusion.

"I had the tumble nine days ago and didn't move out of the bed for a week, but I've made massive progress in the last couple of days and I'm walking about and eating better now."

'My whole body started shutting down'

Carver went away with fellow jockeys Angus Cheleda, Fergus Gillard and Ben Godfrey and is grateful for their support.

"It was the last ski-run of the holiday and we were on our way to pack our suitcases," he said. "I had to lie down back at the hotel, but in my mind I thought I'd just get the flight back and if it was still bad get checked out in England.

"However, it got to the point it was pretty unbearable and my whole body started shutting down. The lads carried me to the medical centre and were a massive help.

"I'm going in the right direction and I'm hoping to be out of hospital in a few more days and my mother is going to come out to help me fly back and we'll take it from there."

The Irish jockey, who rode out his claim last month, has had terrible luck with injuries and is unsure how long he will be out for this time.

"I haven't had a great time of things as last July I broke my back and three weeks after coming back from that I broke my shoulder and now I've done this," Carver said.

"It's not what you want on your few days off from racing and I've seen enough of hospitals now. Hopefully, I won't be off for a long time and I'd like to think I'd be back sometime in July."

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