Former New Zealand jockey Laura Cheshire is counting her lucky stars while recovering from a broken neck after her horse fell on her during a race on Christmas Eve.
Gold Coast-based Cheshire, 26, spent Christmas in the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane after the fall at Ipswich racecourse.
She was knocked out after her ride, Yankee Dollar, broke its leg and rolled on her.
"The clerk of the course told me when she came around the corner behind us she could only see my cap, so I was under the actual horse," she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Cheshire moved to New Zealand with her family when she was young and served an apprenticeship here, largely for Matamata trainer Jim Gibbs.
She has been based on the Gold Coast since returning to Australia three years ago, and is considered one of the sport's glamour girls, as well as one of its hardest workers.
Cheshire is now sporting a protective halo drilled into her skull, and is likely to have to wear it for up to three months.
She was first thought to be suffering a potential fracture, but doctors then discovered nerve damage as a result of a swollen spine.
"I had no idea I had broken my neck," she said.
"Even in hospital they said your X-rays are clear for your wrists and I said, 'What about my hands?' and they said 'No, that's clear as well'.
"I said, 'Oh well, I've got out of this with nothing' and they said, 'You've broken your neck'.
"When they said it, I actually wasn't too worried because I could feel my feet, I knew I was able to walk."
Cheshire hoped to be out of hospital in the next few days, but will take her time returning to work.
