Fitzgerald comes through third operation well

MICK FITZGERALD is hoping to be home by the weekend after making a good recovery from a third operation to rid him of a lingering infection.

Fitzgerald, a former jumps jockey who is now an At The Races racecourse presenter and BBC and Channel 4 Racing contributor, has been absent for several weeks due to a stubborn infection.

The infection was believed to be a legacy from the surgery Fitzgerald underwent to realign three vertebrae and two discs in his neck following his career-ending fall from L'Ami in last year's Grand National.

He had already undergone two operations on his lung, the first to remove an abscess and a second to address a complication that occurred with a chest drain, and has now had further surgery on his throat and spine.

"All went well," Fitzgerald said from hospital on Thursday. "They have removed the front plate on my spine and hope that will alleviate the chance of the infection returning. They have also repaired the hole in my oesophagus. It was quite complicated and took three surgeons to do it, but thankfully it is all done and hopefully I will be away before the weekend.

"I am still being fed through a tube, but that's only because the throat surgery has been done and they want to keep that area clean for ten days. I have to go back for a radiology test, where you swallow barium, which will show up on the x-ray.

"The hope and plan is that I can then get back to work. I havebeen incapacitated for a long time and I am keen to get back to work now."