Horse racing
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GRIFFITH apprentice jockey Chynna Marston will spend Christmas and new year in a neck brace after an MRI scan revealed she suffered a fractured vertebra in a race fall last month.
Marston was hurt when she came off her horse in the first race at the Tumut meeting on November 1.
The 23-year-old, who is based in Canberra, has been wearing a neck brace since she was released from hospital and was hoping to have it off this month. But after inflammation in her neck ligaments receded, an MRI scan last week detected a fracture in Marston's C7 vertebra. "I was told I basically had a broken neck," Marston said.
"My specialist was fairly certain there was a fracture but couldn't see anything initially (because of the inflammation). We know it (the fracture) is there now, but we don't know what state it's at, whether it is healing or it has stayed the same.
"We just have to wait and find out."
Marston has another appointment with her specialist in January and will keep her neck immobilised in the intervening weeks.
"It's getting pretty frustrating," Marston said.
"Especially now that it's summer and it's really hot.
"It's frustrating seeing everything happening around you and not being a part of it.
"But at the same time I know it could be a lot worse.
"I finally saw a replay of my race and it was quite shocking.
"I know I'm very lucky to be here after what happened and how I landed."
Marston is undecided about whether she will resume her riding career. Her love of horses and racing remains undiminished, but she will weigh that passion against the medical advice she receives next month.
"I see everything going past me, horses I had success on with other people," Marston said.
"I do get really frustrated because I'd love to be back on them and out there.
"But at the same time I know I'm lucky to still be here and to be able to walk around.
"It was only millimetres away from being something really awful."