FORMER Port Macquarie jockey Allan Chau must be wondering when it was that he walked under a ladder.
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Either that or the young hoop has smashed more mirrors than he would like to recall.
Chau was involved in another on-track accident in Grafton on the weekend, where, once again, he broke his neck.
He also fractured a shoulder, hand, ankle and jaw.
The dejected jockey spoke to Port News on Monday from his hospital bed on the Gold Coast.
“It’s pretty bad but it could have been worse,” he said.
“I’ve had a really unlucky run with injuries these last two years.
“I’ve been told this is going to be a bit of a long holiday for me.”
Chau was thrown to the ground and broke his C2 when the horse he was riding at the time – Simple Love – had a fall on the home turn at the Clarence River Jockey Club meeting on Saturday.
The Hong-Kong born jockey was knocked unconscious and lay motionless on the turf during the closing stages of the race.
Chau was flown to Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Although the battered jockey was facing an extended period out of the saddle and in rehabilitation, he was not going to rule out a return to the track.
“It certainly makes you think about it,” he said.
“I’m going to give myself plenty of time off to recover and we’ll just see how recovery goes and see how I feel later on.”
He said doctors warned he will be forced to wear a neck brace for at least three months, followed by another three months of little movement.
In April 2011, Chau broke two vertebrae in his neck, the C4 and C5, fractured four ribs and broke another when he was thrown over the head of Glenrock Doney in a race fall at Port Macquarie.