Horse trainer Ernst Oertel finding his way back

In a small, two-storey rehabilitation clinic for amputees in south London, horse trainer Ernst Oertel was happy to convalesce in peace after the traumatic and life-changing ordeal of losing his left leg.

Complications from a previous surgery for a broken fibula forced Ernst Oertel back to the hospital for an amputation from below his left knee. Geoffrey Riddle for The National

The last time Ernst Oertel was seen in public on two legs was at the World Arabian Horseracing Conference in London on May 28.

The dual UAE champion racehorse trainer was speaking as an authority on breeding and racing, but even at the conference it was apparent that something was drastically wrong.

His infected leg was weeping heavily, almost uncontrollably, and Faysal Al Rahmani of Al Ain Racecourse even pointed out that he needed immediate, and urgent, attention.

Oertel whisked himself off to hospital after the conference, but after eight operations in a bid to fight back the infection, his left leg was amputated at the knee two weeks ago.

In a small, two-storey rehabilitation clinic for amputees in south London, where he is sharing a room with another recent amputee, Oertel was happy to convalesce in peace after such a traumatic and life-changing ordeal.

In the face of media scrutiny it is relatively easy to put on a brave face, but looking deeply into the eyes of the master of Al Asayl as he spoke exclusively to The National, it is clear the South African horseman has a tungsten core.

“I surprised myself how I handled the leg thing,” he said, scratching and massaging his stump as he spoke.

“To me, it just had to go. I really didn’t have a choice. I have taken it on the chin. What can you do?

“There are many people around here who are struggling to come to terms with it, but you just have to accept it and move on.”

Oertel broke his fibula and tibia in a riding accident aboard Skoop, the 2013 Arabian Triple Crown Round 3 winner, last August.

He had a titanium plate inserted in his tibia with nine screws, and that is the way it stayed largely throughout the UAE racing season.

After he collected his second successive UAE championship in March, he was operated on in Abu Dhabi at the end of May to take out the metal that had fatefully been holding the two major bones in his leg together. It was already too late, and he had contracted extreme septicaemia.

With David Cameron, the British prime minster, unveiling yesterday a global effort to unearth new antibiotics in the fight to beat worldwide super infections, the irony in Oertel’s case is thick.

For a start, Skoop had a chip in his leg all season and had it successfully removed post season. Oertel grimaces at the thought.

“It was hurting me all season,” he said. “My leg improved, and I had days when it was good and days when it was not so good.

“The infection was always there, but I would take some antibiotics and the pain would go away.

“When I arrived in London, the night before the conference I had a bath.

“I was looking at my leg and the stitches were falling out of a huge swelling. I touched it and squeezed it and the whole thing burst open.

“If I had left it, everything would have been fine.”

There is clearly still time for jokes.

There is a television in the corner of Oertel’s hospital room.

With the World Cup in Brazil reaching fever pitch and Wimbledon providing the sort of thrilling drama that has resulted in Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray tumbling out of the tournament this week, you could have forgiven Oertel for taking the opportunity of drinking in the sporting summer.

Not a bit of it.

“I’m too busy,” he said. “I’ve got to go up and down in the lift all day. I’ve got physio three times a day and I’ve got to learn to walk.

“The ultimate aim is to get back on a horse, and I don’t mean a placid hack horse. Where’s the fun in that?

“I’ve Googled it and you can ride with prosthetics, and look at what was achieved at the Paralympics in riding.”

Oertel’s horses are already in training on the treadmills under the watchful eye of assistant and girlfriend Veronika Aske in Al Asayl, getting ready for the UAE season, which starts on October 31 at Jebel Ali.

Oertel aims to be discharged from hospital in a month’s time, and with his attitude and fortitude it will not be long until he joins them in training.

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