'Without hope you have nothing,' says jockey after paralysis

Graham Lee was paralysed from the neck down after a fall in November 2023

A Grand National-winning jockey has spoken about the importance of keeping a sense of hope, after a horrific fall left him paralysed from the neck down.

Irishman Graham Lee, who lives in Bedale, North Yorkshire, suffered severe spinal cord damage when he was unseated from his horse at Newcastle Racecourse in November 2023.

"My whole life, my family's life, all our lives changed in the click of a finger, and it's been tough," the 49-year-old said.

Lee spoke about his accident ahead of a fundraising event later at Wetherby Racecourse, where he is supporting the charity Spinal Research.

"It's been tough, I won't tell you lies, it hasn't been easy," he said.

"I can't cuddle my wife, I can't put my arm around my daughter after a musical theatre performance and say well done, I can't put my arm around my boy after he's played 90 minutes of football."

Lee rode to victory in the Grand National on Amberleigh House in 2004 in a successful career that saw him ride more than 1,000 winners over the jumps.

The father-of-two then switched to flat racing where he had similar success, including winning the 2015 Gold Cup on Trip to Paris at Royal Ascot.

His accident happened on 10 November 2023 when he fell from his mount in the starting stalls at Newcastle Racecourse.

"All I can remember is hitting the ground and going 'oh no, I'm in big, big trouble', and I lasted about 30 seconds and then I was gone," Lee said.

"I can remember nothing from that point until about 12 or 13 days later."

The accident left Lee paralysed from the neck down and reliant on round-the-clock support from carers.

He said: "Every spinal cord-injured person probably says the same: 'what have I done to deserve this?'

"But, like my wife said: 'there's no rhyme nor reason - it just is.'

"So, you've no choice but to try and get on with it."

Graham Lee rode to victory on Amberleigh House in the 2004 Grand National

Lee is now helping to raise awareness of the work being done by Spinal Research, a charity dedicated to finding treatments for spinal cord injury.

He is attending a fundraising event at Wetherby Racecourse on its opening day of the jump season.

He will be joined by the international equestrian Saffron Cresswell, who was paralysed from the chest down after a fall at Bramham Horse Trials in June 2024.

Tara Stewart, who chairs Spinal Research, said having this type of support was "invaluable" to raise awareness about the condition and potential treatments.

"For decades what we've been doing is investing a lot trying to find something that works and now we're at a big breakthrough stage where we're finding things that can restore function," she said.

"What we need now is the money to take them from where they've been discovered in the laboratory through into the hands of people like me to actually have an effect."

Now in its 35th year, Wetherby's Northern Raceday for Spinal Research has raised more than £800,000 for the charity.

Lee said he still took one day at a time and could not look too far into the future - but stressed the importance of finding new treatments.

"If you don't have any hope, you don't have anything," Lee said.

"So, I'm going to help Tara and the Spinal Research team.

"Whatever they need me to do, I will do my utmost to get more awareness of this injury. I'm going to do whatever I can to help."

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