A NORTON trainer is lucky to be alive after his throat was crushed and neck broken in a freak accident involving one of his favourite horses.

Assistant trainer Adrian Grain, known as Ady, is in intensive care following the accident last week.

He came off a ventilator on Thursday and, although his prognosis is still unclear, his injuries are life-changing and a fundraising drive to support him has been set up.

Ady is assistant to his long-term partner Mark Weatherer at Norton Grange Stables in Park Road, Norton.

He was riding on the all-weather gallops when the horse stumbled and fell, rolling on top of Ady, crushing his throat and breaking four vertebrae.

Ady was flown by air ambulance to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Karen Woods, who organises two syndicates that own eight of the 20 horses in the yard, said: “It was horrendous. Ady was riding Leannes Lady, which he’s done every day since she came to the yard, and they were only doing medium-canter work on the all-weather.

“We don’t really know what happened, we think she may have overreached or clipped her heel, but she pitched Ady out of the front of the saddle and he fell and landed on his head, completely crushing his throat and breaking the four vertebrae in his neck.

“It was a totally freak accident. He always wears a back protector and he had his helmet on but she got him in the place where they meet.

“Although Ady was really struggling to speak, he wouldn’t get into the air ambulance until the paramedics had conveyed his message to people around that Leanne had to be looked after and it wasn’t her fault.

“That’s all he was concerned about. Ady is the sort of person who would give you his last shilling or the shoes off his feet but if you hurt one of his horses you’d be in deep trouble.

“If it weren’t for the air ambulance, he would be dead, without a doubt.”

Ady was put into an induced coma and operated on the following morning.

The breaks in the vertebrae were confirmed alongside a twisted spinal column, at the base of his neck, just above the protector he always wears.


Karen said: “He’s got tubes all over him so he can’t talk. He can’t cough so when mucus or saliva builds up he has to have a nurse come and clear it. But the last time the nurse did it he was trying to wriggle, having previously had no movement at all, so that’s a good sign.


“We don’t know whether he’s going to be paraplegic or quadraplegic, all we know for sure is that he’s not going to ride again.


“They discovered in the operation that his spinal cord is severely twisted at the C4 area, just above where the body protector goes round.

"If it weren’t for the air ambulance, he would be dead, without a shadow of doubt. If they’d tried to move him to get him into a road ambulance it would have snapped and that would have been it.”


Karen, who has set up the GoFundMe page to help Ady, added: “These are life-changing injuries for Ady and we want to do our very best to help him. He lives in a bungalow and adaptations are going to have to be made to make it wheelchair friendly, from widening doors to installing an appropriate bathroom – and everything possible in between.


“Of course, there are many other things, pieces of equipment etc. that he will need and we are hoping with all our hearts that you will help us in providing this for him. Ady is the most fabulous, kind and gentle man with a deep love, and knowledge, of horses.


“His only concern at the time of his injury was that Leanne was cared for and not held to blame for the accident.


“One very important thing that we have been asked to say is that if we manage to raise more money than Ady needs, this surplus will be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance that was so instrumental in saving Ady’s life.


“We understand times are very difficult for everyone but hope that you will be able to contribute to this very worthy cause.”


To donate go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/adrian-grains-life-changing-injuries