I just spoke with Denny Emerson’s wife, May, who told me that they have just received word from the doctors that Denny will not need neck surgery following his cross-country fall at the Stoneleigh Burnham Horse Trials on Sunday. As May said, Denny is incredibly fortunate. Denny broke his C1 vertebrae, but he was able to move immediately following the accident and remarkably did not receive damage to his spinal chord. Denny is currently at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital in New Hampshire with a halo rig to relieve any pressure on his spine.
The great news is that Denny is expected to make a full recovery after 3 months. Denny will be moving out of the special care section of the hospital soon, likely tonight. The big challenge so far is that the doctors have not completely figured out the pain medicine regiment yet, so Denny is in a great deal of pain and he is not receiving visitors.
The eventing community can breathe a big sigh of relief knowing that Denny has been given two thumbs up from the doctors. Thank you to May for taking a few minutes out of a very busy and hectic day to speak with me and we continue to wish Denny the best on his road to recovery. Go Denny.
