Paralysed jockey details the ‘glimmer of light' that has given him hope
The once star rider who won the Grand National over jumps and Gold Cup on the Flat, but now has no movement from the neck down, has opened up about the challenges he now faces
Graham Lee has revealed he is holding on to a 'glimmer of light' that could put an end to the brutal reality of his life since he suffered life-changing injuries in a racing fall.
The 49-year-old was left paralysed from the neck down after sustaining an unstable cervical fracture which damaged his spinal cord when he came off exiting the stalls at Newcastle in November 2023. Lee was a highly successful jockey who became the only rider to win both the Grand National at Aintree and Gold Cup at Royal Ascot during a career in which he excelled at both jumps and on the Flat.
Now he needs round-the-clock care and regularly visits Jack Berry House in Malton, Yorkshire, the Injured Jockeys' Fund rehab facility which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year.
Funds are also being raised for the ex-jockey through the The Graham Lee Racing Club. Club horse We've Got This won for the first time at Redcar on Friday.
Lee's latest visit to Jack Berry House was to attend the ten year anniversary celebration event.
"This is an amazing place run by amazing people," he said, in a Racing Post interview."Racing can be a very lonely place. As a jockey, you're permanently hungry, you're doing loads of miles and you have to deal with defeat every day.
'Racing can be tough but when you get something like what happened to me, it comes together like no other sport. I've been humbled by the support and love I've received. I've been blown away by it, to be honest."
Lee, who rode Amberleigh House to win the 2004 Grand National and Trip To Paris to win the Gold Cup in 2015, went on to describe his new life, which in September last year close friend Sir Anthony McCoy said was 'horrific'.
Lee said: 'Don't get me wrong, I know there are people worse off than me, but with my injury, every day is groundhog day.
"You think, how am I going to get through today? You see no light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how small the tunnel is, you don't see a glimmer, but then Becks found something on Facebook the other day about an operation you can have in China.
'After Jack read about it, he said, 'It looks like we're going to China, then'. I wouldn't think it will happen but it's a glimmer of light, a little bit of hope."
He went on: "I was a very moderate rider who was told, 'You can't and you won't,' but yet I did. I had lots of broken bones and plenty of head injuries along the way but my body always overcame the obstacles. It always healed. This ain't healing.
"That makes me angry at my body, which is probably very unfair because my body is okay, it's just the spinal cord that is broken. I'm angry because in the past my body collapsed but then came back. At the minute, there is no coming back.
"When you're a jockey, you always dream of getting on that one horse who will take you to the next level. My situation is the same. I'm hoping and I'm dreaming. That's what keeps us going.
"I'm just hoping that somewhere, some day, there will be that glimmer of light."
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