Racehorse TALK

Surgery report on Malcolm Pay 

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27 Feb 2007

By Rob Burnet    www.thoroughbrednews.co.nz

Malcolm Pay’s surgery went ahead on Tuesday morning at the Epworth Eastern, Melbourne, as scheduled reports Des O’Keeffe, Executive Officer, Victorian Jockey’s Association.

O’Keeffe reports that the surgeon who performed the operation, Dr Richard Bittar, said that it went well and at this early stage he is happy with the result. He added that there were no complications of any significance encountered during the procedure.

Last week O'Keeffe, on behalf of the National Jockey’s Trust, organised a drive to raise the required $150,000 to pay for the operation.

O'Keeffe said Pay had been 'blown away' by the generosity of the racing industry across Australia.

He said donations were received from people who had never met Pay.

Pay, 42, suffered neck and spinal injuries after a fall in Singapore in October. The surgery that followed was unsuccessful and a screw inserted in a metal plate in his back is unravelling.

Unfortunately Pay's Singapore insurance was not going to cover the Victorian surgery and local Work Cover also did not cover the complex situation.

Pay faced the prospect of life in a wheelchair unless he had the surgery.

Pay's cash pain

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20 May
Rod Nicholson  Herald Sun  www.news.com.au/heraldsun

JOCKEY Malcolm Pay's proverbial pain in the neck may be about to ease.

This week he was "disappointed and embarrassed" that he was yet to receive any money to help him overcome a life-threatening neck injury despite $150,000 being raised in a fundraiser.  "I haven't received one cent," Pay said.

Pay was embarrassed when he visited the surgeon who operated on his spine, knowing he had not been paid.  "I asked him if he had been paid and he said, 'no'," Pay said.

"That was just wrong and it was embarrassing for me."

Pay was the victim of a race fall in Singapore, but because he was not under Australian insurance coverage, he received little financial help.  The National Jockeys Association launched an appeal for Pay. Donations flooded in, with $150,000 raised in four days.

The jockey had surgery on February 27 and he must remain in a neck brace for another month.

"The hospital cost $40,000, which was paid immediately by the NJA," Pay said.

"All up, the surgery cost $137,000 and yet the surgeon hasn't been paid and I haven't received any of the donations above and beyond the costs of the operation. The money was raised three months ago."  Pay said he was upset with the delay.

"The surgeon sent a bill to the Jockeys Trust and nothing happened, so he sent me a bill for $70,000. I nearly had a heart attack," he said.

"I was overwhelmed by what people did to keep me out of a wheelchair, and for the jockeys association for organising it.

"People said they donated specifically to help me and are dirty that I haven't seen any money to help me get through all this."

Yesterday, the NJA said a cheque for $70,000 for the surgeon's bill was in the mail.  The NJA said it would decide this week what it did with the rest of the funds.

Cheques for Pay surgery

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21 May
Matt Stewart  Herald Sun  www.news.com.au/heraldsun

THE huge bills to cover jockey Malcolm Pay's neck operation have been paid, according to Victorian Jockeys' Association chief executive Des O'Keefe.

O'Keefe was stunned to read a report yesterday that Pay's surgeon was owed $70,000.

The National Jockeys' Association raised more than $150,000 to help cover Pay's medical bills after he injured his neck in a race fall in Singapore. He had surgery on February 27, with the operation costing $137,000.

O'Keefe said there had been a slight delay with payment to medical staff, and passing on the excess $30,000 to Pay. The cheques were posted on Thursday.

Absolutely disgraceful that the NJA didn't arrange with the surgeon and the hospital to send the bills straight to them.  Or was there a problem in collecting some of the promised money?  Some are very quick to bignote themselves with offers but most reluctant to prise it out of their wallets when it is time to pay.

Now, despite all that, was the operation a success and how is Mal faring these days?

HorseWithNoName
Well I hope he's well but will check out another forum (Not TNHRCF) and ask a few people,they will be more up to date than me.

With the travel jockeys do these days they should have international insurance.  I guess it is very expensive but hey peace of mind is a wonderful thing.

I agree, Westie, that peace of mind should be the priority.  But we must also remember that they are not always fully employed and sometimes struggle to get rides.

One way to address that would be to take a portion of the riding fee towards insurance or build it into the rinding fee.  I don't know the answer, it's in the Too Hard Basket for me, but there are so many jockeys who don't have/can't afford the appropriate insurance cover.

And remember, when they are suspended or injured they can't go to Centrelink for assistance.  They don't all have huge savings accounts to tide them over.  There are those, of course, who will spend every cent they earn without thought for another day, but I would imagine that savings for most would be a pipe dream.

And thanks for trying to find out more about Mal.