Manitoba’s horse racing community is praying that a mother of two will walk again after an accident over the weekend.
Jockey Alyssa Selman, 29, was thrown head first Saturday after a horse clipped her horse’s heels during a race at Winnipeg’s Assiniboia Downs.
Selman’s spinal cord remains intact but her C5 vertebra was fractured. It is unclear whether she will walk again after she lost all feeling from the waist down.
Husband Rumesh Selman, who witnessed the incident, said her “neck went one way, her torso the other.”
Selman said it has been hard to see his wife lie on a hospital bed unable to move, especially considering he’s so used to seeing her “bouncing and frolicking.”
Jockey Clint Magera, who lives in the trailer next door to the Selmans, called it a “horrible” accident and said horseracing is a dangerous job.
“She’s such a nice girl and I hate to see her go down like that,” Magera said.
Assiniboia Downs CEO Darren Dunn said he has never seen such a bad accident in 35 years at the track.
A fundraiser will be organized to help with Selman’s recovery, he added.
If Selman does regain the ability to walk, husband Rumesh said he believes “she’ll be back on a horse in no time.”
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
