Brian Toomey suffered a horror fall in 2013 at Perth and was pronounced clinically dead for seven seconds; he had part of his skull removed and a titanium plate fitted; the retired jockey is now set to join the training ranks in the next year
Tuesday 4 July 2023 16:10, UK
Brian Toomey will always be known as the miracle jockey who cheated death, but it is a name the 34-year-old is keen to brush off with a training career on the horizon.
Thursday July 4, 2013 was the day that changed Toomey's life forever, taking a horror fall off a horse called Solway Dandy in a handicap hurdle race at Perth.
The Irish jockey was pronounced clinically dead for seven seconds and was only given a three per cent chance of survival by doctors, having been placed in an induced coma and had part of his skull removed in order to have a titanium plate fitted.
But after 150 days in hospital he was discharged and just over two years later, remarkably, he made his return in the saddle at Southwell.
"I was going all the way to Perth to ride a favourite which I thought had a good chance and I was looking forward to it," Toomey told Sky Sports.
"I was all ready and prepared - I was ready to go. When I got the fall, I lost consciousness and was taken to hospital with a three per cent chance of survival.
"My family were called up to be given the news and to expect the worst. It was very tough for them.
"My memory was hit very hard. It's a shock hearing the severity of it and how serious it was. A lot of doctors and neurosurgeons were shocked with my injury and shocked by my recovery.
"I'm very lucky. I remember going back to the hospital for check-ups every few days but that would be about it to be fair.
"Recovery was very slow. I was on a lot of medication after the injury for seizures so it was affecting sleep - it was very broken."
His return was relatively short-lived, retiring from riding with 81 winners in the UK, and he has since sought help from the likes of John Francome and Clive Cox in order to attempt to join the training ranks.
Toomey also admitted that trainers were cautious when giving him rides in races, in some part down to the fear of potentially another life-threatening injury.
"People thought I was mad but it was all I wanted to do," he added. "I wanted to get back to living the life I was living.
"I loved my career as a jockey and I was probably still in cloud cuckoo land thinking that I was going to get back the career that I had.
"I struggled to cope with it and accept it that people were too worried to give me opportunities in case I got another fall and saw how bad my fall was in the first place.
"People showed a lot of care and were very good to me. No one wanted me to get back riding so I wasn't getting much encouragement on that front. I independently chased that dream myself I think."
To many, Toomey will always be known as the miracle jockey, but it is a moniker you get the feeling he is trying to shake off.
That is especially notable when Toomey mentions his conversion from retired jockey to aspiring trainer, and he looks set to begin that fledgling second career in the next 12 months.
"I've heard it a lot how much of a miracle my story is but I don't like to dwell on it too much," he said.
"I'm quite a confident person and I always thought I'd keep doing all I could to recover and I always gave myself daily goals and things I had to work towards and that was a big help to me.
"I'm soon to become a trainer so hopefully you'll see Brian Toomey in the winners' enclosure and I hope I'll be known as a successful trainer not the miracle jockey."
