https://www.drf.com/news/harness-svanstedt-discusses-recent-ontrack-accidentSarah Svanstedt has no memory of the accident that occurred at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 12 and left her unconscious on the track. She remembers warming up the Swedish-bred All Time Trot, who she was scheduled to drive later that evening. Her next recollection is being in the hospital.
According to multiple accounts, Svanstedt was going a warm-up mile and coming to top speed around the far turn while along the pylons of the seven-eighths-mile track when a horse warming up in the opposite direction with Dr. Ian Moore got spooked by some equipment on the track and made a U-turn in her direction.
"It was a freak accident, as most of them are; nobody's fault," said Dr. Moore. "[My] horse was spooked by a tractor, and it was just bad timing for all concerned."
Sarah, who spends countless hours on the track as second trainer for her husband Ake Svanstedt, is only left to guess that her vision must've been somewhat compromised by the tractor.
"If I would have seen a horse coming towards me, I could have stopped or gone right or left to kind of try to not get hit by the horse," said Svanstedt, who admits that she was likely occupied with checking her watch and getting her horse to speed, and certainly not expecting a horse to come out of nowhere. "I'm just trying to find answers as to why this happened."
Sarah was left helpless, face-down on the track, when Moore, who was also unseated, came to check on her. "He said he couldn't find my pulse. I can just imagine what was going through his head," said Svanstedt. "The poor guy was probably thinking I'm dead."
According to Svanstedt, a stable employee named Mike came to assist her on the track, turned her body over and got the dirt off her face and mouth. He was doing his best to tend to her while avoiding too much movement for fear of causing further damage.
As this was going on, Dr. Moore's horse continued to run loose on the track as All Time Trot just stood and watched. While Svanstedt has no memory of it, Mike and others told her it was about 15 minutes before the paramedics made their way to her because they are not permitted on the track when a horse is loose.
"This incident was unique in the case that it happened during warmups and not during a race like most on-track incidents, in which the Starter would be first on the scene. It's our track protocol that the paramedics proceed to the incident once all horses are caught in the interest of safety. Our Racetrack Supervisor and Starter do respond immediately to any incidents," said Bill McLinchey, Vice President of Standardbred Racing for Woodbine Entertainment.
Speaking with officials from other tracks, it really depends on the jurisdiction as to who makes the decision on when the ambulance comes on the track to care for any injured parties. The state or region also plays a factor in whether the paramedics are charged with immediate transport to the hospital.
Svanstedt said she was told that after going inside the track-assigned ambulance, they waited just outside the paddock for a "real" ambulance to arrive and transport her to the hospital. She wondered aloud whether there was a better way to handle the entire situation at tracks across North America.
"For the ambulance crew to not immediately go out to the person, I have no words for that," said Svanstedt about the delay while the loose horse was wrangled. "It is a high-risk sport. You are signing up for it on your own, but you would like to know there is a good backup plan in place in case something goes wrong.
"I was knocked out and at that moment no one knows how my brain is, how my back is, if I broke my neck."
Svanstedt was told by Mike that she was speaking on her ride to the hospital, but she has no recollection of any conversation. The accident took place between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Svanstedt said the first thing she remembers is being taken in for a CAT Scan at 9:30 p.m.
The 45-year-old Svanstedt recalls her time in the hospital being almost as eventful as her on-track misfortune. There was a bone sticking out of her shoulder as a result of a completely broken collarbone and she suffered a dislocation of her right thumb. X-rays were delayed until after 1:00 a.m. and then a decision needed to be made on potential surgery.
"[The doctor said] I might need to have surgery and if they do it I have to stay for a few days for observation," said Svanstedt. "At that point, obviously I know I'm in Canada and in my head I just want to go home to my kids and family. I said, 'no, I am not going to do anything.'"
After a period of observation due to her concussion, she was eventually cleared to sign out of the hospital at 3:30 a.m. but had no one to take her back to the hotel. She said she was placed in a wheelchair in the waiting room and provided with a blanket while she waited for the right hour to get transportation. Once she got her wits about her, Svanstedt asked for the hospital attendant to call her a taxi, but her night still had one more turn to take.
"I couldn't remember my room number, so they had to go to my ID and try to find my room," said Svanstedt, who had three rooms on her reservation. "I told them whichever room has Sarah is my room. He looked at my ID and he said, 'it's not matching the room.'"
As it turns out, Christine was listed on the room, which is her middle name. At first the hotel attendant didn't want to budge since it was sketchy to have someone walking in at that hour and in some disrepair. "I said, 'if you don't give me the key now, I'm going to throw up right here with pain,'" said Svanstedt.
And that ended a wild 10-hour period for Svanstedt where she went from warming up what was supposed to be the 5-2 morning line favorite in the C$82,750 Casual Breeze to being out of action for an undetermined period of time with multiple injuries. For now she is passing on having two surgeries to fix her collarbone and instead resting at home and attending extensive physical therapy as a viable alternative. She is also pondering what went wrong on the track that fateful night and how to make positive change ahead of the next potential on-track mishap.
"Everyone in this sport has families, and we're doing it because we love horses and the sport, but we also need to be safe out there if something happens, because as of now, I don't want to be part of this ever again," said Svanstedt, who added that what she needs to get back out there - outside of a clean bill of health from her doctor - is to know that everything possible is being done to make sure the environment is safe on the track and the all preventative measures are taken just in case an incident occurs.
In sports it is said that the best offense is a good defense. Perhaps the best defense against the next on-track accident is good preparation.
With that, the native of Sweden discussed a number of changes she viewed as viable options for tracks to consider, including creating a barrier around an injured person with the starting car and the ambulance to keep any loose horse at bay while they attend to their needs. There is also the thought that track maintenance crews should limit the amount of equipment on the track when horses - especially younger ones - are warming up to avoid potential issues. Finally, Svanstedt mentioned the number of times she has seen a water truck operator at certain tracks looking at their phone instead of the path ahead and felt more attention should be paid by those operating heavy equipment.
For Woodbine's part, McLinchey did say they would review the incident and make adjustments if needed. "It is Woodbine policy that we do a full review of any on- or off-track incidents to determine how the situation was handled and if any changes to our protocols are needed for future situations," said McLinchey.
For Svanstedt, despite her misfortune, she remains thankful.
"I'm just glad that I can tell the story and talk, and it wasn't worse than what I could have been," concluded Svanstedt.
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