PISA. A fall that left him no escape. Dominik Pastuszka, a jockey of Polish origins, resident in Merano, who would have turned 36 in a few days, was unable to win his latest challenge, the one for life. Pastuszka’s condition had been desperate ever since he and his horse War Brave fell disastrously during an obstacle race at the Oleandro prize on the Escoli lawn. It was the fourth of the seven races of the day, scheduled when the tragedy occurred on Thursday afternoon, under the desperate gaze of his wife, who had arrived from Merano together with their one and a half year old daughter.
The horse was put down a few hours after the dramatic accident, while the jockey was transported to the Cisanello emergency room with practically no hope. Here he was operated on in neurosurgery and then transferred to intensive care. On Friday afternoon at 2.30 pm the assessment of brain death began. Race over for him, clinically dead. So much so that doctors informed his family that there would be no chance for the young man. Shock in the San Rossore stables. The victim is an expert jockey and a professional specialized in obstacle races and had already raced many other times in the Pisan facility. In the past he also lived for a period in Pisa in the Barbarcina neighbourhood, the same as the racecourse, where some relatives had opened a stable. The horse racing world is in mourning.
«We express our deepest closeness to Dominik Pastuszka, and his family». As Sonny Richichi, president of IHP, Italian Horse Protection, the first Italian association for the protection of horses, which is based in Montaione. «From our point of view, we reiterate how it is completely unacceptable today to subject animals to this exploitation in the name of events which, among other things, also enjoy an ever decreasing following among citizens» continues Richichi.
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