Conditional jumps jockey Finian O'Toole has been forced to retire from the track after suffering a dreadful fall back in November of last year at Kelso and he has never been able to fully recover from his injuries.
The young jockey suffered his injuries when falling in a hurdle contest on board the Keith Dalgleish trained One Night In Milan, but what made the incident much worse was when another horse, King Leon hit him when he was on the floor.
He was immediately taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where the extent of his injuries were explained and he suffered a broken pelvis.
Since that time the Irishman has been stationed at the Injured Jockey Fund's facility at Jack Berry House working on his recovery where he thought one day he would be able to add to his 53 winners in Britain but it has now been announced he is being forced to retire.
(Credit Racing Post) The jockey said: "I have had to retire due to medical reasons. It happened last November and I always knew it was going to be a struggle since then. I am absolutely gutted. I am going to miss it thoroughly – I suppose I won't miss the sauna though!
"I've been at Jack Berry House and I will continue to do my rehab, they have been amazing to me. I was convinced for a while I was going to get back but unfortunately over the last few weeks I started to realise it wasn't going to happen. Then last Thursday I met the specialist [Dr Jerry Hill, BHA chief medical adviser] and the door shut.
"It has been a long and hard road, but I have been surrounded by great people. It is a bit of a weight off my shoulders as I know the craic now. I'm not going to be one to sulk about it and I will move on to the next chapter."
Every jockey has their favourite day in the sport and O'Toole named his treble at Sedgefield back in 2016 where he landed a three timer for trainer Micky Hammond who was the riders best adversary during his career being the handler for 36 of his 53 wins.
O'Toole added: "Sedgefield was the best day.
"I got a right kick out of it and it was one of those days where everything went right. My boss Micky Hammond has really looked after me, I have been with him four years and he has been very good to me.
"There are plenty of people I would like to thank, Jack Berry House, the IJF, my sponsor [Richard Gilbert] and my family and friends –they've all stuck by me.
"On his next career path, O'Toole said: "I want to be involved in racing and I have a few different options but I am not committing to anything, possibly something to do with young horses."