Jake Noonan hospital stay extended
Jake Noonan hopes to be back in the saddle in time for early spring after undergoing surgery on a broken leg.
Noonan, who celebrated his first Group One win on Precious Gem last month, had a rod inserted in his left leg after breaking his fibula and tibia in a fall at Pakenham on Sunday.
He is still in hospital after developing a breathing problem following the surgery.
“The surgery was pretty simple but I had a bit of trouble coming out of surgery with some breathing issues,” Noonan told Melbourne radio station RSN.
“I had some lung and chest infection coming out of it and I don’t know whether that was due to some morphine I had when I first broke it.
“I came out of surgery with a Ventolin mask on and I’ve been on an oxygen tube ever since and I’ll have that for another 24 hours.
“I’ll go home either Thursday or Friday depending on how my breathing is.”
Noonan said he hoped to start rehabilitation in two weeks with his surgeon predicting his recovery would take three months.
Steven Arnold received a four-week suspension for shifting out at the 250m-mark which resulted in Noonan’s mount clipping heels and falling.
Noonan said he did not blame Arnold for the incident.
“Poor Stevie,” he said.
“He’s probably the nicest bloke in the room.
“I’ll never hold anything against him. He’ll feel bad enough as it is.”