He was a friendly, impressive young man before a life-changing race fall.
But despite facing life as a paraplegic, Tom Prebble remains upbeat on his future and pragmatic about the fall that has him watching racing from the sidelines.
Prebble gave an emotional interview on Victoria Derby Day alongside his famous father Brett, a top jockey in his own right.
Nearly two months after suffering a spinal cord injury in a fall at Warrnambool, Prebble has been diagnosed at The Alfred Hospital with a complete T4-level paraplegia, meaning no motor or sensory function below the point of injury.
Prebble Jnr spoke about how he sees his life in a wheelchair and how he’d “fly anywhere just to get half my body back”.
“It was no fault of anyone’s. The horse just had a stumble and it was a wet track. I can’t blame anyone for it,” he said.
“He went head first and so did I and, unfortunately, from then on I couldn’t feel anything below chest level. From here down I can’t feel anything. I have got no sensation and it’s been two months now, so they have basically declared me as complete [paraplegic].”
“I’ll hopefully move home to Mum’s house where it will be modified for me to be suitable to live in. From then on, hopefully [I’ll] just get my independence back, and if there’s any rehab that could get me a bit more sensation, I would love to do it.”
“I would fly anywhere and do anything just to get half my body back.”
Despite having every reason to be dirty on racing, Prebble said he remained passionate about staying involved in the sport that has given him, and his family, so much.
“I’m not dirty on racing. I would love to still be a part of it and I’ve come today because there’s horses I love and trainers I love to cheer for,” he said.
“I would love to stay a part of the industry, that’s for sure, but I’m not home yet and I’m still taking everything day by day.”
A GoFundMe has been created to help Prebble with his recovery.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/backing-in-tom-prebble-after-paraplegia-diagnosis/donate?attribution_id=sl:fc3b14a9-22d1-4e8a-8266-a6a8078f4e8e&utm_campaign=unknown&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=widget
