Graham Lee: I'd give up every winner to hug my family again

Graham Lee has revealed that his heart stopped beating in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary following a fall in late-2023 which has left the jockey paralysed from the shoulders down. 

Lee initially rose to prominence as a jump jockey, with notable successes on the likes of Inglis Drever, No Refuge and Arcalis for owner Graham Wylie, but his biggest moment over obstacles came when landing the 2004 Grand National on Amberleigh House for the legendary Ginger McCain. 

The Galway-born rider switched to riding on the Flat in 2012 and enjoyed further glory at the top level, including winning the 2015 Ascot Gold Cup on Trip To Paris and the 2018 Nunthorpe on Alpha Delphini, however his riding career was prematurely ended at Newcastle on November 10 when he was unseated from his mount Ben Macdui in the stalls. 

Speaking to Niall Hannity on Racing TV’s special Graham Lee: Beyond The Fall programme, Lee recalled: “All I can remember is the second I hit the ground. 

“I remember doing what I've always done on him - you slip the blind off quietly and so you let him see - and then the second I slipped the blind off quietly like I always did, he was gone. 

"He went to go under, and I've obviously tried to get his head up, but the force that I hit the ground was too much. I can remember hitting the ground and thinking and then I was gone.” 

Lee is full of praise for the intensive care unit staff who were by his side over the next 12 days but clearly recalls the moment that his nightmares became reality in that hospital bed. 

“I can remember very, very accurately the dreams and even now they scare the life out of me because I can remember every dream,” he said. 

“My heart stopped, flatlined. People would say, ‘oh did you see the white light or whatever?’ No, I didn't. 

“I'd just gone. But that place I went to when I flatlined, I was so chilled, relaxed, calm, assessing everything and very chilled. 

“When I came back round there was six doctors around me, eight nurses around me, I think there was 14 people around the bed and I was going, ‘jeez, what's all this commotion?' 

"I'd gone, but they got me back.” 

Clearly, life has changed enormously for not just Lee himself, but his wife Becky and their children Amy and Robbie. However, while coming to terms with the consequences of an incident that has left the rider with spinal damage which means he may never walk again, the now-48-year-old is determined never to give up trying - ‘I'm not willing to accept that' - and is one of the most dedicated patients at the Matt Hampson Foundation Get Busy Living Centre in Leicestershire. 

The centre was set up by former rugby player Hampson who was also paralysed after an accident and Lee – who, along with wife Becky, was full of praise for the help and support his family have had from the Injured Jockeys’ Fund (IJF) - has already made a big impression on the staff. 

Tilly Cumming, the foundation's clinical lead, explained: “Graham is just one of the nicest people in the world and he doesn't understand why people care about him. 

“There are very few people in the world I enjoy seeing more than Becky and Graham, although he is a massive pain at times. Very stubborn. 

"I think it must be something that is very difficult to get your head around - when you are very driven and your job involves a lot of physicality - to have a high-level spinal injury that means all of that is taken away.” 

Lee, who still draws on the ironman-esque attributes of his good friend Sir AP McCoy who helped kick-start his riding career, added: "It's so difficult for me to get my head around what has happened. 

"We keep going, we keep hoping something will happen somewhere because if you don't have hope, you've got nothing. 

"When Rob plays a football match, I can't put my arm round him and say 'well done kidda' or watch Amy perform in her musical theatre and give her a hug and say 'that was class. 

"I'm not moaning, it's just made me realise that when I was riding it was the be-all and end-all and I did it to the best of my ability. But there's more to life, isn't there? 

"I was very fortunate to ride big winners, but, at the end of the day, it's only horses running around a field. 

"I'd give up every winner I ever rode to get up, walk out of this chair and hug my wife." 

It may be a chance in a million, but if there was one man who you’d bet on to one day make that miracle become reality rather than a dream, it would be Graham Lee. 

Graham Lee: Beyond The Fall will air on Racing TV on Sunday 12 November at 11.30 BST. The hour-long special sees Hannity and Lee speak candidly about his life-changing fall but also the golden age of jump jockeys, living with Sir AP McCoy, his ‘happiest years’ at Ferdy Murphy’s, winning the Grand National, a ‘special win’ for Overturn in the Galway Hurdle, his quest to become the first to ride a thousand winners over jumps and on the Flat, and many more moments. Don’t miss it.