A FORMER prime jockey has spoken candidly of his ‘worrying’ well being scare – after waking as much as uncover he had suffered a stroke.
Larry McGrath suffered a bleed on the mind and nonetheless doesn’t have full use of his left hand.
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He has needed to cease working as a piece rider for coach Craig Lidster as a result of ‘all of the muscle is kind of wasted’ in his arm.
McGrath, 51, was a prime jumps jockey in his time.
He gained greater than £500,000 over the course of a 20-year profession and claimed the final ever Cathcart Problem Cup on the 2004 Cheltenham Competition on the Richard Visitor-trained Our Armageddon.
The race ceased to exist in the identical approach after that, though an analogous contest within the form of the Ryanair was launched a yr later, when the Competition went to 4 days.
McGrath additionally raced within the Grand Nationwide and his finest season got here in 2003-04 when he gained 29 occasions and earned prize cash of simply shy of £250,000.
Chatting with the Racing Put up, McGrath mentioned he was on statutory sick pay and that the uncertainty over his future was ‘worrying’.
He mentioned: “The docs say it was a stroke, a bleed on the mind, however I am nonetheless ready for the outcomes of an MRI scan.
“Thankfully, nothing else appears to have been affected, simply my hand, however that is one thing I want!
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“I have been using all my life however I can not journey as a result of I’ve no energy in my hand.
“I can transfer it and if I put one thing into it I can maintain it, however attempting to raise issues is difficult.
“I can not eat with a knife and fork, I’ve to depend on utilizing a fork in my proper hand.
“Is it persevering with to get higher? Some days it’s, some days it is not, however that is the best way it really works.”
