Nipperess in good spirits after accident
Trackwork rider Kate Nipperess is in good spirits as she recovers from spinal surgery after an accident at Warwick Farm.
A riderless horse crashed head-on with the horse Nipperess was riding on Thursday morning.
Nipperess was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with multiple injuries, the most serious a displaced vertebra which was placing pressure on her spinal cord.
Her partner, trainer Craig Ritchie, said although she did not yet have feeling in her legs, doctors hoped it would only be a matter of time.
“She still has no feeling to her legs but the spinal cord was not severed,” Ritchie told Sky Sports Radio.
“They are hoping the pressure on the spinal cord was created by the bruising and hopefully it will come right.
“She is in very good spirits.”
Ritchie said the doctors were pleased with how the surgery had gone and were comfortable they achieved what they had set out to do.
Nipperess also suffered multiple rib fractures and a lung injury in the incident which Ritchie said happened despite the safety measures in place.
“It was a freak accident,” Ritchie said.