10 May 2024 , 13:31
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The daughter of top trainer Nicky Henderson has called on the racing community to talk about their struggles after the death of another ex-jockey.
The death was reported this week of 36-year-old Michael Byrne, a former jump jockey who rode nearly 100 winners in Britain and competed in the Grand National.
Camilla Henderson, an equestrian psychology specialist, described Byrne’s death and others before him as “simply unfathomable”.
She highlighted that Byrne was a close friend of both Grand National-winning jockey Liam Treadwell and James Banks, who both died by suicide in 2020. She posted a photograph of the three of them together on holiday in her X account, in the hope ot stimulating more debate in the sport about the mental health of ex-jockeys.
In a series of posts, she wrote: “It’s simply UNFATHOMABLE. Three to suicide. All friends.
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“I hope the industry is supporting these individuals & making calls, visiting them, because they are now extremely vulnerable. Please everyone in this industry think about what we can all do to make better change to support
“Jockeys & stable staff,male & female. What infrastructures can we put in the racing yards, at the physio facilities, at the race courses, at home for them. Perhaps some support groups in Lambourn, Newmarket areas also, a space where lads can speak together about their struggles.”
Having been born into a racing family, Henderson said she wanted to make a positive contribution and help get people to talk.
She added: “This needs to be spoken about- Sadly we lost the lovely Michael Byrne to suicide last week,we lost Liam Treadwell & James Banks in 2020 also to suicide.
“This picture taken from James Facebook shows 4 of them together, only one survives. It’s chilling. All retired jockeys.”
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org , visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.