Douglas to have surgery following spill

Alan07 · #1 05-23-2009, 11:16 PM

Jockey Rene Douglas, hurt in an accident late Saturday afternoon at Arlington Park, was to undergo surgery at 11 p.m. Central at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago after being transported via helicopter from Northwest Hospital near Arlington.

Douglas has an injured back, according to his longtime agent Dennis Cooper, and was to have arthroscopic surgery, the concern being the possibility that a bone splinter had lodged in his spine.
http://www.drf.com/news/article/104048.html

jwkniska · #2 05-23-2009, 11:47 PM

that's not good to hear. hope the surgery goes ok.

eajinabi · #3 05-24-2009, 12:10 AM

The track announcer did not even acknowledge the accident during the race.

Danzig · #4 05-24-2009, 01:03 AM

sorry to hear he will require surgery. hopefully he'll make a full and swift recovery.

this, on the horse, from bloodhorse:

Cooper said he had been told that the horse, trained by Eric Coatreiux, had recovered from the incident. A spokesperson for Arlington Park said the filly was back at the barn having some issues, but had not been euthanized.

jballscalls · #5 05-24-2009, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eajinabi

The track announcer did not even acknowledge the accident during the race.

i addressed this in another forum and its late so i'm just going to cut and paste.

"I'll tell you exactly how. listen to the call. about 1 second after the horse fell he gives you the 3/4 time. when an announcer goes to give the fractional time, especially when they are turning for home, they generally have to look all the way to their right to see the time on the board, then go back to their binoculars, thus they are probably looking away from the race for anywhere from half a second, to a full second or more.

when the horse went down, John G. was looking at the board to get the 3/4 time. when he looked back into his binoculars, the first horses you look at are the leaders, who at that time were already 30 or 40 yards infront of the fallen horse.

nothing Dooley could do about it. Stuff like that happens all the time to all announcers"

Scav · #6 05-24-2009, 10:28 AM

http://www.drf.com/news/article/104056.html

Riot · #7 05-24-2009, 10:59 AM

Awful thing. I hope there's no permanent paralysis. My best wishes to Rene and his family. He was a fixture at Arlington, he had a great career.

Hope the filly survives, too.

Travis Stone · #8 05-24-2009, 11:06 AM

Wow... that's terrible news. Sad to hear.

jwkniska · #9 05-24-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Wow... that's terrible news. Sad to hear.

I'll 2nd that bigtime.

I just hope the best for him, his family and for all involved. He'll be sorely missed at AP!

ELA · #10 05-24-2009, 11:37 AM

I probably shouldn't say anything right now, but let's just hope it's post-surgery trauma and all that nonsense.

We are all members of the same community -- this great sport and industry. So let's all hope for the best for Rene and his family.

Eric

blackthroatedwind · #11 05-24-2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ELA

I probably shouldn't say anything right now, but let's just hope it's post-surgery trauma and all that nonsense.

We are all members of the same community -- this great sport and industry. So let's all hope for the best for Rene and his family.

Eric

Agreed. A very sobering part of the game.

mclem0822 · #12 05-24-2009, 11:42 AM

All the best to Rene and his family.

my miss storm cat · #13 05-24-2009, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ELA

I probably shouldn't say anything right now, but let's just hope it's post-surgery trauma and all that nonsense.

We are all members of the same community -- this great sport and industry. So let's all hope for the best for Rene and his family.

Eric

I hope you're right.

Prayers for him and for his family.

Kasept · #14 05-28-2009, 04:59 PM

NETWORK: HORSERACING TV (HRTV)
DATE: THURSDAY, MAY 28
SHOW: "RACEDAY AMERICA"
HOSTS: SCOTT HAZELTON & CAROLYN CONLEY

GUEST: NATALIE DOUGLAS, WIFE OF SERIOUSLY INJURED JOCKEY, RENE DOUGLAS
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON RENE DOUGLAS' CONDITION

Natalie Douglas: "As you well know he had problems with his back, where he has some fractures...and he had several broken ribs. Which makes it a little bit hard for him to breathe on his own. They're draining his lungs on a daily basis... He's fine, he's very strong in the upper part of his body. His mind is clear, he's sharp. He's Rene at his best. He gets mad when he wants to get mad; he's happy, cranky.

And he communicates with us. Whatever he wants, he wants to get it now. As for his legs? It's too early to tell. The doctors are very hopeful because his spinal cord was not severed. For people to assume he's paralyzed, I don't know where they're coming from. Right now, yes, he cannot feel them. But that doesn't mean that this is permanent.

"It means that he had a very long surgery; a very difficult surgery, that was a success. They are waiting for the swelling to come down to see what happens. But, as I said earlier, Rene's such a strong person, and he's so determined, that it's in his mind and he will get it done. But, again, he will be Rene.

"My concern about these rumors, and reports, is that I have children, that are school age. They go online, and they read things. I don't want my 9-year-old to come up to me and tell me that his friends are telling him that his dad is paralyzed. Because that's not the case...we have a great team of surgeons, doctors, ICU personnel, nurses. The management of the hospital has been great...They are doing a fantastic job with him. I want to thank the people who have sent their best wishes, and prayers, and support...that's what we need right now, positive energy, and prayers. And we're going to come out of this fine."

ON THE ORIGINAL BLEAK PROGNOSIS, FROM AGENT DENNIS COOPER, AFTER SPEAKING WITH THE SURGEONS. HAS OPINION CHANGED?

Natalie Douglas: "I think that there was a lot of miscommunication between a lot of people...I think thoughts were not expressed the proper way. I think probably what it was, it was too early to tell. They're saying, 'as of now,' he can't feel his legs and not move them. As of now. Doctors have said from the very beginning, from the moment of the surgery, was they have to give this time. It may be two weeks, or more, when the swelling is down. As you know, each body is different. And the extent of his injuries all over his body... he has a bunch of broken ribs, and he suffered two punctured lungs. So, we need to give his body time to relax. Time to heal. And once that happens, then we will know, or at least get a better idea, of what's going to happen with his legs. But, he's very strong, and his mind is in the right place...It's just the game of waiting right now. I know people are frustrated, and they want to know. They want to know now...It's his body, and we have to wait and give him time. I think it was more a miscommunication than anything else."

k9styl94 · #15 05-31-2009, 10:20 AM

I heard yesterday from Frank Lyons on TVG that he was doing exceptionally well. He stated that he's going to recover fully. I know that the swelling still needs to reduce a lot, but that is great news for the Douglas family.

Scav · #16 05-31-2009, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k9styl94

I heard yesterday from Frank Lyons on TVG that he was doing exceptionally well. He stated that he's going to recover fully. I know that the swelling still needs to reduce a lot, but that is great news for the Douglas family.

I think people just need to relax right now and let nature play its course. Unfortunetly, realism gets lost in a situation like this where emotions are high. Rene was well liked by all, has a **** load of friends, and has some of the best doctors working on him.

Riot · #17 05-31-2009, 10:55 AM

Edit: I deleted the bit about Rene and surgery - I found a non-industry Chicago news source dated today, an hour ago, and it states "this morning he had surgery", but I can't verify that anywhere else, and I think the reporter screwed up and copied that line from last week.

The joy of bad journalism on the internet ....

But everywhere, it does say Theriot is appealing his suspension.

brianwspencer · #18 05-31-2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riot

Edit: I deleted the bit about Rene and surgery - I found a non-industry Chicago news source dated today, an hour ago, and it states "this morning he had surgery", but I can't verify that anywhere else, and I think the reporter screwed up and copied that line from last week.

The joy of bad journalism on the internet ....

But everywhere, it does say Theriot is appealing his suspension.

Which, unless something changed since yesterday, may well be a moot point as far as serving time goes.

He was denied a stay, so he had to start serving it, but word is that basically by the time they go through the appeals process and then hand down the ruling, he'll have pretty much served it all by that time.

That was last I heard yesterday at AP.

Riot · #19 05-31-2009, 11:34 AM

Thanks.

jwkniska · #20 05-31-2009, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

He was denied a stay, so he had to start serving it, but word is that basically by the time they go through the appeals process and then hand down the ruling, he'll have pretty much served it all by that time.

Abosolutely correct. DRF had an article from Hersch a couple days ago stating exactly that.