In a conversation with Trot Insider today from his parents' home in Bowmanville, Ont., Trot Magazine's Bloodlines columnist Ralph Sucee spoke out for the first time about the Sept. 1 car accident that left him critically injured.
Sucee was released from Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital on Tuesday, just 17 days after a horrendous accident on Highway 401 near his home in Whitby, Ont. He and his younger brother, Rob, had been on their way to Mohawk Racetrack that night for the Breeders Crown, and to watch their brother Ken's horse race in the Shes A Great Lady.
Sucee is currently staying with his parents, Ron and Trudy Sucee, where he receives daily health care and support while he recovers. Speaking by phone his voice is unwavering, his usual dry humour is intact, and his mind is remarkably sharp.
"This has been, from our point of view on this side of the family, a rather miraculous thing," Sucee said of all that's happened over the last 20 days.
He described in detail the unthinkable injuries he sustained when the metal tongue of a dislodged utility trailer ripped through his windshield and across his upper body. Those injuries include a multitude of broken bones on his left side, bruising on his brain, and damaged vertebrae in the lower part of his core due to the force of the injury to his left arm, which caused severe nerve damage.
Though early reports were that Sucee had likely lost the use of his left arm permanently, today he happily reported some amazing progress.
"I can move my fingers on my left hand," said Sucee, wiggling his thumb while talking. "I can't lift my arm. My shoulder can't lift my elbow and my elbow can't lift my fingers, so what I have to do is carry it around with me as I'm going places, and it's a little bit painful. But, I'll be going back in at the end of this month and they'll do some x-rays and examinations and testing of the nerve situation.
"Worse-case scenario is that I could end up with no arm. If it goes that way, I'm okay with that. I'm 53 years old, I've accomplished a lot of things in my life and I'm feeling quite comfortable with where I'm at."
Sucee is currently under the care of his very loving family in addition to a nurse, physiotherapist and pulmonologist, who will work with him on strategies and tactics to keep his lungs clear during the early stages of his recovery.
"My wife has, for the last 10 or 15 years, run a home daycare and most of the children she takes care of are those of the social workers who I work with at the Children's Aid Society," Sucee explained. "I wouldn't want her to have to come up and make sure I'm getting out of bed properly while she's looking after the children, and my parents have a bungalow so I don't have to climb any stairs here," he said of the decision to recover at his parents' house.
Since leaving the hospital, Sucee has begun to receive what he says are hundreds of pieces of registered mail, many of which have come from people in the harness racing industry. He also spoke of the outpouring of concern and gestures of assistance from his co-workers at the Children's Aid Society.
"It's really left me as humbled as can be," said Sucee. "I can't imagine anyone having more prayers than me."
Though he knows his road to recovery is long, Sucee's progress thus far is so astonishing that one has to stop and put into perspective the true miracle that has ensued.
What's more, he is to be deeply admired for his outlook on the situation.
"One day I'll be able to relate to people how this incident has been one of the most positive things of my life," he said. "From the moment I came to, the first question was never 'am I going to live?', it was 'is anybody else hurt?'. I've always known I'm okay."
Please join the staff at Trot Magazine in keeping Ralph Sucee in our thoughts and wishing him a very safe and full recovery.