Jockey fighting for life after horse crushes him, rolls on him and stamps on him in horrific sequence of events
A JOCKEY is fighting for his life after a horse crushed him, rolled on top of him and then stamped him in a horrific sequence of events.
Zack Ziegler was airlifted to hospital after a nightmarish spill last Saturday.
The 35-year-old father of four was riding After Burn when the four-year-old clipped heels with a rival and unseated him.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to help Ziegler’s family with medical bills, the horse ‘fell directly on top of Zack, then rolled onto him trying to get up and ended with it stepping on the back of his neck’.
Ziegler was rushed to hospital in Nebraska, US, where he had immediate surgery to stop a bleed on his brain.
It is believed he could also have suffered a broken back, in addition to facial fractures and a nasty cut to his right eye.
According to the GoFundMe page, Ziegler, who has just under £1million in career prize money, has ‘no timeline’ for when he could wake up and come off a ventilator.
Doctors also put a ‘fibre optic prove’ into his brian to measure pressure and any possible swelling.
It is believe he could remain in hospital for months. The horse was unharmed.
A recent update from the jockey’s partner Carrie Robb said: “We tried to wean him off the ventilator but his pressure spiked and his heart rate as well.
“I know he needs rest but I just want him awake.
“His boys just want him home again. Going back to school today was hard for them.
“I sit here and just keep reading everyone’s nice prayers and thoughts to him, hoping he will get annoyed with me and wake up but it’s not working.
“Zack is dad to four kids and they need him to heal up quickly.
“Zack needs all the love, support, prayers and any help he can get right now.”
Click here to go to the GoFundMe page.