Tall in the saddle again

She didn’t waste any time. While her life now looked different and her career as a horse racing jockey was over, Kristy wasn’t giving up.

It started out like any other race. It was New Year’s Eve 2011 and Kristy Banks, a veteran jockey of 15 years, took her position in an outside barrier in the first race at Toowoomba with her mount, August Bishop.

When the gates opened, she was looking to settle in her spot in the race. But 300m in, everything changed.

“I was trying to pick up a position and I clipped heels on the horse in front of me and fell,” Kristy recalls.

“You wouldn’t say it was an overly bad fall. Sometimes you see a fall and you think ‘Oh that’s not good’, but then they get up and walk fine.”

What appeared to be an “average” fall, however, was anything but.

Paramedics were quick to attend to Banks as she lay on the track, and tried to comfort her.

“I was fully conscious and I just couldn’t move my legs and I couldn’t get up. It wasn’t a good feeling,” she says.

“By the time I got to the hospital and they did scans, imaging and all that sort of stuff, the doctors said I won’t walk again. They put it pretty bluntly.”

Kristy had broken her T11 and T12 vertebrae, which had totally compressed and cut off her spinal cord. She also suffered a collapsed lung and broken ribs.

“I told my family and my husband (Dale) as soon as I knew and they were devastated. It was a traumatic night,” she says.

“I was in the ICU for the first few days and then they moved me to the spinal unit.”

It was while recovering in the spinal unit that the reality of her injury began to sink in.

Kristy, who was about to turn 31, was a paraplegic.

“I was just taking it day by day but they moved me into the acute ward – that’s where the quadriplegics and high-care patients are and that was pretty confronting,” the now 42year-old says.

“I didn’t get any sleep at all and I didn’t know how to feel because I could use my arms, but these people had no movement at all. I was kind of telling myself, ‘I’m lucky because it could have been worse’.”

Kristy spent six weeks in hospital recovering and learning all she needed to about her new life, including how to insert a catheter, before being transferred to a motel for two weeks and then finally, going home.

“You’re paralysed from the waist down so you’ve got no bladder or bowel function. You have to make that work for yourself,” she explains.

“I thought when you’re paralysed you’re just in a wheelchair, but there’s so much more (to it). The nurses would tell me I’ve got to be cautious of my skin because pressure sores can kill you.

“My life was flipped around, so I really had no choice but to try and deal with it and try and live my new life the best I could and try not to dwell on what was.”

She went to Riding for the Disabled when she’d just out of hospital, tried to get on a horse – and actually did it.

“It wasn’t the greatest experience – I had a person either side of me and my balance wasn’t great, I was kind of just sitting there with no control at all,” she remembers.

“Then someone told me about a girl in America barrel racing with a seatbelt who was paralysed and when I watched her you wouldn’t have even known she was paralysed. I was amazed by it.”

That video was all she needed. Just six months after her accident Kristy was ready to jump back into competitive racing, albeit in a different sport – barrel racing.

Complete with her seatbelt, which is sewed into the back of the saddle and secured across her waist, Banks and her horse race in a cloverleaf pattern around drums for the fastest time.

Kristy races in events and is the only competitor with a disability. Remarkably, she has already won three championships.

“I loved being back on (horses), it was the most normal thing I had back in my life … and the fact I could do that was very good for my mind,” she says.

Away from racing, Kristy’s life has changed dramatically – not only because of her accident but her family circumstances, too.

In September 2013 Kristy and Dale, who has been a constant source of support since the accident, welcomed their first child, Nash, into the world. In May last year they welcomed their second child, Nova.

“(Nash) loves horses and rides mini bulls for fun. He’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie like his mum,.” Kristy says.

AriesMar20–Apr18

Don’t let those April showers bring you down, it is simply a time to reflect on how far you have managed to climb to get to the top.

With the right people meeting in the right circles it will be the ideal platform to put forward new ideas, seeing where they take you. It could be straight to the top. There is a fantastic view from the top of the pecking order so make sure your wardrobe meets your new portfolio.

Get the champagne bottles ready and glasses full to the brim, you are a superstar.

TaurusApr19–May20

Taurus need to get to get ahead of the game, start playing the right way and you are going places. Simply sitting back and letting others take credit for your great ideas will be like a red rag to a bull.

Thinking big will see your bonuses increase and rightly so. You will be happy to be able to spend all that extra cash on doing something you love fine dining with a bottle of the finest wine.

GeminiMay21–Jun20

Battle stations! This is not a drill. When a Gemini says jump, the answer is usually followed by their steely glare so be on your best behaviour or you will feel the wrath.

Wait … no, they are lovely nice people who don't have a vicious bone in their body. They may well imagine roasting you slowly over an open fire but would they really do it? Gemini is a little like what you see is what you get but if going into battle have a Gemini by your side to slay the opposition.

CancerJun21–Jul21

Everybody rock your body! Cancer enjoys partying with good friends and are often see in the wee small hours of the morning dancing it out, then regretting the decision the next day. Boy do they have fun though.

Aries

Every day is another adventure and if you are brave enough to go out, expect to be led astray as they wander from nightclub to nightclub. You will really hit your stride this month, Cancer, and go bravely forward into uncharted territory.

LeoJul22–Aug22

It is getting cooler in the jungle and lions are looking for some time out, so start looking for somewhere nice and cosy by the fireplace to cuddle up with someone special.

As usual it may take some time to get organised though. Despite our reputation for being perfectly content in a spotless surroundings, with some Leos this can be so far removed it is laughable.

We love the comfort of having a cosy den where we can usually be found enjoying the delicious food that is surrounding us. I mean a girl has to eat.

VirgoAug23–Sep23

Virgos can expect to be surrounded by fame and fortune this month. Even if it is in your dreams take notice of where the money comes from and act accordingly.