By Garry Howe
There are few people as laid back and laconic – or tough it seems – as Pakenham horse trainer Gavin Brady, as evidenced by the events of 15 September last year that almost claimed his life.
The former champion amateur jockey fell from a horse he was taking out for a trackwork gallop, got caught in the irons and was dragged a terrifying 100 metres with the horse lashing out to remove the human obstruction from underneath it.
“Don’t worry,” Gavin assured the worried track supervisor, who was first on the scene. “I think I’m just winded.”
Granted, the ordeal did take the wind out of him, but also left Gavin with seven broken ribs, four of which were floating in his chest, having been separated from the sternum and backbone.
His lung was punctured and the extent of the internal bleeding required 3.5 litres to be replaced when the air ambulance eventually transported the battered jockey to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
There he was placed in an induced coma and underwent a series of operations that left him with quite a bit of titanium permanently around the area of the chest.
It was touch and go there for a while and Gavin’s WorkCover doctor keeps reminding him how lucky he is to still be around, given the trauma his body went through.
It’s likely to end his riding days, but he’s fine with that.
“I’ll get some advice, but there are plenty of people already telling me not to ride again,” he said.
“You’ve got to have the confidence. If you’ve got any doubts, it’s best to stay away. Horses will pick up that you are tentative.
“If I don’t ride again that’s fine. I will continue to train and just leg someone else up.”
Gavin bears no malice towards the horse, or anyone else, and puts it down as just one of those things that happen in the industry he loves.
“I couldn’t count the numbers of falls I’ve had over the years, but this one is the worst by far,” Brady explained. “I’ve never been hooked up before, which is the worst thing that can happen to a rider. There is nothing you can do – it’s totally out of your control.”
In fact, he got a real buzz out when the horse – Desiman, trained at Bunyip by Kasey Wilson – broke through for a win on Traralgon Cup Day late last year.
Brady can’t speak highly enough of the trauma team at the Royal Melbourne and also of the community – both local and through horse racing – that reached out through his ordeal.
He says the phones of his children Matt and Jess were running hot with people concerned for his welfare.
The response triggered a few memories.
Back in 2007, Gavin had just lost his wife Joanne when he broke his leg badly in a race fall. Friends rallied to his cause and a fund-raiser to help ease the financial burden filled the Cardinia Cultural Centre.
This time around, he even got a call from someone he hadn’t seen in decades.
Dick Talbot, who now lives in Queensland, went on a trip to Kalgoorlie with Stan Young and a few other locals, when Gavin’s plight came up in conversation.
“I couldn’t believe it when he rang to wish me well,” Gavin said. “I haven’t seen him since school.”
Gavin now realises how close he came to meeting his maker and it’s given him a greater appreciation of life.
“There’s still a bit I’ve got to do,” he said.
When pressed, he said he had never been to a concert in his life.
Pressed again as to which act that may be, he said he had none in mind.
“I’ve got a pretty diverse musical taste, so it’s hard to say.”
Given the events of last year and his likely retirement from the saddle, The Living End could be a good omen bet.
