Injured Jockey Collins Out of Intensive Care
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Photo: Coady Photography
Dennis Collins
Jockey Dennis Collins, who is suffering paralysis from the waist down after a Sept. 25 spill at The Downs at Albuquerque, was moved out of intensive care Sept. 29.
According to his girlfriend, trainer Heather Brock, Collins has been moved out of ICU at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
"We were moved to a regular room late last night, that we should be staying in until we are transferred to a rehabilitation hospital (no date on that yet)" Brock said in a Facebook post. "We are technically out of ICU but still very closely monitored. He is doing well and still in good spirits. He is still heavily medicated to manage his pain, so he is sleeping a lot. But that's not a bad thing."
Collins was injured in a spill in the third race Sept. 25 at Albuquerque, where his mout Smiling Reuben fell after appearing to break down. Collins was thrown to the dirt.
Collins, 53, has won more than 2,200 races since 1986. He has won stakes races at Turf Paradise, Horsemen's Park, Fonner Park, and Prairie Meadows.