Matt O'Connor

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Fingers crossed the young guy is alright.


By Brian Fleming6.56PM 26 MAR 2009
MATT O'CONNOR, conditional jockey attached to Colm Murphy's stable, was taken to hospital on Thursday afternoon after being knocked unconscious in a fall at Thurles.

The jockey fell five out on Walkin Aisy in the beginners chase and immediately lost consciousness.

He was sent to Clonmel hospital and Dr Jim McGlinchey said after the race meeting: “Matt is still unconscious and he’ll have a Cat scan in Clonmel and that will determine whether he requires surgery. There were no lateralising signs of an internal bleed so hopefully he’ll be okay, but only time will tell.”

Clerk of the course Lorcan Wyer added: “His condition is the same as it was leaving the track and the results of the scan will be examined before deciding if he needs to be moved to a specialist unit.”
 
I believe he has now been moved - it sounds pretty serious. Commiserations to all involved, esp the kid and his family, and to Colm Murphy's yard. There is quite a long news piece on the RP site about this now, and it's the news lead currently..
 
Dr Adrian McGoldrick, chief medical officer of the Turf Club, said at 8pm on Thursday night: "Matt has a serious head injury. He has had some scans and is having more detailed ones.
"He has been ventilated and is being transferred from Clonmel to the neuro-surgical unit in Cork University Hospital."
 
This is really awful news. Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with him & his family.

He is so young, a really nice person and a crack rider. He rode Midnight Chase in the Martin Pipe Conditional at the Festival for some friends of mine. Chase was a 100/1 shot but neither he nor the horse took any notice of that and he gave him one hell of a ride to get him into 2nd place.
 
Described as "stable but unconscious" on Irish-racing.com, which sounds marginally more encouraging.

Apart from that, I echo the sentiments of Isinglass.
 
Such horrible news, I hope for everyone related to Matt that he can pull through this difficult time.
 
Just terrible news. Imagine it is going to be a very long and dark night for his family. Thoughts and prayers are with them and Matt tonight. Just sickening.
 
I sincerely hope this lad pulls through.

We all have a go at jockeys but we must never lose sight of the fact that jump jockeys in particular put themselves in serious harm's way on a daily basis.
 
Dr Adrian McGoldrick, chief medical officer of the Turf Club, added: "He went into intensive care in Cork at around 8.30am this morning and he had a very good night.



"He's stable and the fact that he had a good night is certainly very positive.



"He was unconscious immediately after he had the fall and he had a brain scan that showed there were no major haemorrhages in the brain so he doesn't require surgery, although obviously there is some bruising.


"He's in a medically induced coma, really to keep the brain rested. It's still early days."
 
The latest news from home is that he is being kept in a coma until Monday in order to give the swelling in his brain time to go down.Please everyone keep everything possible crossed for Strawberry.
 
I'm in an absolute state of shock over this. Matt's ridden for us for a year and a half and is a superb young rider with a good head and balance. I had a great natter with him at Cheltenham (as all good drunken chats are!!). As you can imagine, he was disappointed not to get the championship rides but I said it might be a blessing in disguise......as it turned out to be. I hope to God I get to have pleny of more chats and good times with him as his career was only beginning to take off.
 
By racingpost.com staff12.30PM 29 MAR 2009
MATT O'CONNOR was reported on Sunday morning as remaining in a stable condition at Cork University Hospital after suffering serious head injuries in a fall at Thurles on Thursday.
The 21-year-old jockey, who is attached to Colm Murphy's stable, was hurt when Walkin Aisy fell at the fifth-last fence of the Templemore Beginners' Chase.
Knocked unconscious from the fall, O'Connor is in a medically-induced coma in the hospital's neuro-surgical unit.
"I spoke to Caroline, Matt's mother, over the weekend and the situation is that he is stable," said Dr Walter Halley, former chief medical officer for the Turf Club and a member of the jockey's family.
"The observation and ongoing tests are satisfactory, which is good news. They would hope within the next 48 hours to reduce his sedation - but that will depend on the results from the ongoing tests.
"He is in a medically-induced coma, which is normal procedure, and the situation is being continually monitored.
"He is still seriously ill, but it has been a positive 48 hours."
 
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