Sunday 3 July 2022 12:42 PM Female Jockey Leah Kilner thrown off a horse in a coma: Grafton racing NSW trends now
A rising horse racing star is fighting for her life after falling during a race on Sunday afternoon.
Leah Kilner, 24, was thrown from her filly, Stella Turn, as the field galloped along the home straight in the third race of the day in Grafton, northeastern New South Wales.
Terrifying footage shows the horse stumble about 75m from the finish line, catapulting Kilner onto the track before being trampled.
Kilner is now in a coma with serious spinal and head injuries after undergoing surgery to 'release the pressure on her brain' at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.
rising horse racing star Leah Kilner, 24 (pictured), is fighting for her life after falling during a race on Sunday afternoon
Kilner (pictured) was thrown from her filly, Stella Turn, as the field galloped along the home straight in the third race of the day in Grafton, northeastern NSW
Ambulance officers ran on to the track to help the fallen rider, but an hour passed before she was taken by Westpac Rescue Helicopter to the hospital.
'Because there was such a long delay of more than an hour before Leah was airlifted from the course, there was a great wave of concern for her from the other jockeys,' Clarence River Jockey Club chief executive Michael Beattie said.
Kilner's family, including her father Greg, who is a horse trainer, were both at the track and saw the horrific incident unfold.
Her trainer Rob Heathcote said he had been in touch with Racing NSW officials after the fall and said she was going in and out of consciousness.
