Update On Ken Middleton

The road to recovery will be a long one for Ken Middleton. The longtime voice of harness racing at Woodbine Mohawk Park sounds himself, but he'll be on the sidelines indefinitely after undergoing surgery on Sunday, July 2 following a serious training accident.

Middleton suffered cracks and breaks to multiple vertebrae in that June 29 accident. He told Trot Insider that three fractured vertebrae in his neck were fused, including a process that included pins and screws to stabilize and strengthen the affected area. 

In addition, a piece of bone that was pinching and pressing against Middleton's spinal cord — causing some nerve issues in his right arm — was removed. He estimated that he has regained about 60 per cent full use of his arm, noting that it's much better than it was at the time of the accident. 

"It's a process. They led me to believe it would be."

That process will be lengthy. As Middleton pointed out, we as people want everything done yesterday but in a situation like this time moves very slowly. 

"It was tough to manage pain...that's been the toughest part of it. Actually woke up today and I feel quite a bit better," said Middleton in a Friday morning conversation. "I'm able to sit up for an extended period of time. That's been tough. Just getting up and moving around, getting comfortable. So we're there today, and I'm enjoying the backyard and a coffee."

Middleton has been able to rest, but his phone has not. There has been a steady stream of questions and comments and well-wishes from the Standardbred industry and beyond since news of his accident broke just over a week ago. He appreciates all of the positive energy from his far-reaching network of friends and fans.

"I haven't been able to keep up with them," Middleton said of the texts and messages. "It's just going to be one of those things where at the end of it all I'm going to reach out and I'm going to say something nice to everybody...and they know I'm not doing too good. So I just want to rest and make that my priority."

And that priority is getting back to as close to normal as possible. Middleton couldn't provide any timelines for returning to any of his usual racing-related activities, stating at this point it would be akin to throwing darts of time frames.

"Bottom line, we're making progress. I can walk, scoot around the house myself...it's not real graceful, but it gets me from point A to point B. I can move all my extremities, just my neck is really sore. That's the next thing. I have to wear this collar brace on my neck. They like you to wear it around the house, take it off when I lay in bed.

"It just depends. Depends how quickly I rebound on the pain thing. You know, get some physiotherapy into me, see how the arm reacts to some work...and the rest of my body, too."

With a stable of horses also needing work, Middleton noted he's forever indebted to Canada's 10-time Trainer of the Year, Richard Moreau.

"Richard came over, no questions asked, and picked up four of my horses the next day after they raced... just took that upon himself. The awareness that I was in a bad spot, and could help me out, so he did. He jumped at the opportunity. No questions asked.

"The girls from the Bill Galvin Racing Alliance brought over a bunch of frozen meals and stuff like that. I should mention my family obviously, too, helping with the horses because I still have horses here at my farm and across the street at Dr. David Goodrow's, and I still have Bob Loblaw up at the training centre there so they've been all chipping in...my brother and his family and my mom and my girlfriend. Everything's just outstanding. So as bad as it's been, there's been a lot of good that's come from it too. You realize the good in people."

In terms of next steps, Middleton is hopeful that the surgical staples in his neck will be able to come out in about two weeks time.

"Right now it's just stiff. It's sore, it's clumsy and awkward and you got to be careful. But yeah, every day, I seem to be feeling better...even if it's just a little bit better, it's still better."

Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing Middleton a full and speedy recovery.