FRIDAY May 13 was a lucky day in the life of 41-year-old professional jockey Rodi Greene.

The man his peers call the iron man walked out of the Duke Of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre at Odstock, Salisbury, under his own steam on his own terms just 54 days after cheating death.

Given the nature of the injuries treated there, not many patients walk out few had done it in as short a time as Rodi.

After riding in over 4,000 races since making his debut in 1988, Rodi was in the twilight of his career, mostly riding the horses no one else wanted to get on.

On Monday March 21, Rodi went to Lingfield for one ride, a 50-1 shot in the opener he was set to earn a fee of around s90 after stoppages for his efforts.

At around 2.25 trainer Lisa Williamson legged him into the saddle. It was the first time he had seen Diamond Twister.

I was told he could be a bit keen, but he didnt look like being as bad as some of the rides Id had after all, hed won on the Flat, recalled Rodi.

He just stepped at the hurdle and in his efforts to recover he went a little to his left. If they stay straight you should be able to sit on them but I was going down his neck on the other side.

Id been in that position literally hundreds of time before, after all, in this game you take a fall around once in every fifteen rides.

But something went wrong this time and I remember thinking you muppet as I was heading for the turf, as I simply hadnt made the right shape to land properly.

I landed on my knees and then kind of flipped over on to my head and bounced when Venetia Williams visited me on hospital she said I had looked like a pogo stick.

As soon as he came to rest Rodi knew he was in trouble big trouble.

I thought I was going to die there and then.

I was in terrible pain. I was paralysed and terrified. I was thinking Oh my Jesus Christ! I cant believe this please God dont let it be like this, its the end.

The ambulance men came over and asked if I was alright which, at the time, rated as one of the most stupid things Id ever heard I couldnt speak, I couldnt breathe.

All I wanted to do was to go to sleep after a trauma like that, its your body shutting down.

Aidan Coleman had also taken a bad fall in the race and they took him to hospital first, because they were worried about him having internal injuries I suppose they didnt think they could do anything for me.

After 50 minutes I was taken to Redhill Hospital. My legs regained some of their movement while I was in the ambulance, so I knew I had chances of walking again, but my arms were still paralysed.

I was dehydrated but they wouldnt let me drink in case I needed an operation.

I suppose they were scared to move me but, to be honest, I didnt receive much by way of care and attention. When Alison arrived the following day I was still in most of my riding gear and was lying there shocked, immobile and covered in mud and blood, while the doctors decided what to do having taken a scan of my neck.

They moved me to London, where they looked at my results. They decided that as I hadnt broken a vertebrae I wouldnt need an operation, which was a huge result.

They allowed me out of bed into a wheelchair. Then they got me to try and hold onto a frame, but both my arms were bad and the right one was totally paralysed it was like a lump of meat. Every time they picked it up it just flopped lifelessly back to my side.

A week after the fall Rodi was transferred to Salisbury where the true horror of his injury became clear after a second consultation of his scan results.

Dr Tony Tromans, the long-time and much respected senior consultant at Odstock gave the bad news.

He explained I had been put in the wrong collar and my head was being held in the wrong position as Id displaced my C-3 vertebrae by three millimetres and it was detaching.

The last case scenario was an operation, but that would have required major and dangerous surgery as they would have needed to get to the vertebrae through the front of my body.

What Dr Tromans wanted me to do was simply make me stay in bed at a certain angle for four to six weeks to give the bone the chance to move back into position by itself SIX WEEKS I struggle to stay in bed for six hours.

So, they laid me out supported by pillows and sand bags at an angle that had me with my chin on my chest.
Rodi had begun the longest countdown of his life he had nothing to do but count every second until the end of his sentence.

You can imagine the boredom, but I just trained myself to stick it out. Alison was a heroine. You know, she came to visit me almost every day and its a four hour round trip from home she clocked up over 5,000 miles.

A highlight was Fridays when she brought the kids up to see me. My son Billy always insisted on cleaning my teeth before he went home how touching is that?

I also had so many visits from friends which helped pass the time and I cant describe how fantastic Lucy Charnock from the Injured Jockeys Fund was. She sat with me for much of time I was there.

The big day dawned on Thursday April 28 when Rodi was taken for his crucial x-ray.

The vertebrae had moved back into place and he didnt need an operation. Just as important, he could get out of the bed that had been his prison for so long.

I started in a wheelchair, but soon began to walk more. I knew I was doing well and was hoping to be discharged at the end of this month, in time to be at the testimonial cricket match jockeys and trainers are holding for me at Cullompton on June 3.

But Dr Tromans to whom I owe everything saw me walking around on Friday May 13th of all days and asked me if I wanted to go home for the weekend.

I said If I go home, I wont be coming back here, so he agreed to discharge me.

But his recovery is far from over.

Rodi still cuts a frail figure having lost over a stone and a half from a body which was super fit at the time of his accident.

The blue surgical collar will be a fashion accessory for some weeks yet and the right arm is a long way behind the left one in terms of recovery.

As an exercise, he squeezes a soft ball in his right hand with the intensity he used to drive home a winner, but sometimes you see him flinch from the effort.

You can see hes still hurting, but hell keep driving himself on to what should, in time, be a full recovery.

Its going to be a long job. I know that and you can see that.

Ive got to concentrate on getting well. At least Ive more time to spend with Alison and the kids than at anytime since were married.

The plan is to stay in the racing game. Alison and myself have a field with facilities for preparing young horses for training just down the road and Ive been lucky to build up a solid client base.

Im going down there every day already. Although I wont be getting on a horse for a while Im very hands on with the business and hope I can be a bit more use as time goes by.

Rodis fall was the first in a terrible series of injuries suffered by jump jockeys this spring.

Both Peter Toole and Richard Hawkins are slowly recovering from severe head injuries incurred in April, while Isabel Tompsett had to be revived twice following a fall at Fakenham last Sunday.

Rodi visited Hawkins on Thursday at least hes out and walking, lets hope the other three will be doing the same soon.