Racing jockey Coa suffers serious neck injury
February 19, 2011HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Racing officials say jockey Eibar Coa fell from his horse and suffered a serious neck injury.
A press release from Gulfstream Park on Saturday said Coa, a native of Venezuela, broke his C-4 vertebrae in the fall a day earlier. He was undergoing surgery at Memorial Regional Hospital.
A family spokesman, Tito Fuentes, says Coa had feeling in his body but could not move his limbs. However, he says Coa is alert and can talk.
Another jockey, Paco Lopez, also was thrown from his horse and was treated Friday for an elbow chip.
Coa, who moved to the U.S. in 1993, reached his 4,000th racing victory last year.