Surgery Scheduled For Mayotte

Following a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shoulder and arm injuries, driver Roger Mayotte is scheduled to undergo surgery for his broken arm, which he sustained in the much talked-about accident at Woodbine Racetrack on March 2

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Mayotte dislocated his right shoulder, broke his right arm near the shoulder in three pieces and suffered pulled muscles in the pelvic region after he was thrown from the bike in the horrific eight-horse accident during the Ontario Boys Pacing Series Final while driving Shiny Mach.

After the accident, Mayotte’s dislocated shoulder was reset and the doctors at Etobicoke Hospital decided to give him a hanging cast using gravity to try and set the broken bones back in place on their own. Following a CT scan and consolation with doctors at Etobicoke, Dr. Michael McKee at St. Michael's took over his case and has scheduled surgery for Tuesday.

“Racing-wise, I should make a full recovery,” Mayotte told Trot Insider. “I might lose a bit of mobility in raising my arm above my shoulder. There’ll be some loss of mobility there but for racing I plan to make a full recovery.”

While Mayotte has been in some serious accidents before, he says this was without a doubt the worst.

“This is the first time in 31 years of driving that I’ve ever been forced to stop racing for any length of time. I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve been down many times but this is the first time I’ve sustained injuries that have stopped me from driving or training but we’ll get through it.”

The resident of Mississauga, Ontario, who was sitting fifth at the rail could not avoid the pile up caused when Warp Speed and Mario Baillargeon, who was third, caught a shoe and fell.

“During the accident, I was following Jason Brewer’s horse [Winter Blues] and as we moved off the rail before the half Jason’s horse got really rough-gaited in front of me, which caused me to grab my horse up. As I checked my horse to the inside I saw Mario’s horse on his way down who had also pulled off the rail,” recalls Mayotte. “I then tried to steer my horse towards the safety lane and I couldn’t get my horse down to the inside quick enough. I ended up going right over Mario’s horse, which threw me into the air and catapulted me forward. I landed on my feet originally but that propelled me forward and right onto my shoulder and flipped me over onto my back and I knew right then and there that I probably broke my shoulder or arm by the impact.”

Early reports indicated that Mayotte sustained a suspect hairline fracture to his pelvis as well. The 52-year-old horseman said following the accident he was in a lot of pain and could not walk so he had more x-rays done at Oakville Hospital, which revealed some good news - there was no fracture to his pelvis after all. The doctors said he should be up and walking to strengthen and heal the pulled muscles. Taking their advice, Mayotte has since visited his stable at Mohawk Racetrack.

“I currently have two horses racing at the Meadowlands and four horses stabled at Mohawk. I still plan on going to the barn every morning and overseeing my stable and watching from the sidelines but still being very hands on. It’s the part I enjoy and that will keep me focused and looking forward.”

“I’d just like to thank everyone for all their calls, cards and concern. It was most appreciated. I also want to thank my wife, Julia, and my daughters for their support.”