Three days after falling at the Grand National on Saturday, 22-year-old jockey Peter Toole has been woken by doctors from a medically induced coma.
Toole was diagnosed with bleeding on the brain after being dismounted by the 100-1 outsider Classic Fly. Despite initial fears that lasting damage may have been caused by the accident, Toole appears to be recovering well in hospital.
Trainer Charlie Mann said: “His CT scan came back negative, which is good news. His body is ok and he woke up last night [on Monday] from the induced coma and he was moving his legs”.
The Lambourn-based trainer added: “They then put him back under in the night and he should be coming out of that again this morning. I’ve spoken to his father this morning and it is a case of so far, so good. Everything is as good as it can be at this stage. They’ll do some tests on him when he has woken up”.
Toole was transferred to the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery after being admitted to Fazakerley Hospital on Saturday. In a race that claimed the lives of two horses, some would argue that the sport is lucky to have escaped a human fatality this year, with the ground at Aintree proving too hard and fast for those concerned about safety.
After guiding Don’t Push It to third place behind runner-up Oscar Time and winner Ballabriggs, Tony McCoy Tweeted: “Don’t push it ran great 2day v proud of him, but more importantly thoughts and prayers are with Peter Toole who has a serious head injury”.
