'Dad is just Dad to me - I never really clicked how incredible he was' - Amy Lee on racing's support for her father

Amy Lee revealed how messages of support are keeping her father Graham going through his "down days" following his life-changing fall and marvelled at the help people in racing have offered him and his family.

She was speaking as a racing club was launched to raise funds for the jockey, exactly 20 years to the day that he won the Grand National on Amberleigh House.

Lee, who went on to win the Nunthorpe Stakes and Gold Cup after switching from the jumps to ride on the Flat, remains in the spinal unit of Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital five months after an unstable cervical fracture sustained in a fall at Newcastle caused damage to his spinal cord.

"When we set up a Just Giving page for dad the target was £100," his daughter said. "Last week it hit £200,000, which is crazy. I never expected that.

"I've always said to Dad every time he has a negative thought there's a donation to show him, he needs to keep going, there are so many people behind him.

"When he's had his down days we've sat there and we've read all the lovely messages and it always puts a smile on our faces. So many people have come to see him or gotten in touch with a message, it's been so nice and really kept dad going."

Amy, who is studying at college in Swindon, admitted she had been taken aback by the tributes paid to her father.

"Dad is just Dad to me," she said. "I never really clicked how incredible he was. I've always thought the world of him but another jockey said to me, 'He's like god, he's who everyone wants to be like'. It's so nice to hear something like that.

"I wish that I could be half that person. I'm a performer, I'm studying musical theatre, and to have that competitive mindset to be a winner, to be a champion is admirable." 

Amy Lee: "I never really clicked how incredible he was"Credit: Louise Pollard

Lee also said his injury had given her father the chance to appreciate his own achievements.

"While he was a jockey, it was on to the next thing," she said. "When he won the National he was just thinking, 'I need to go to Hexham now', he never got to celebrate it really, but since his accident he's really reflected and we've pulled out the old photos and videos.

"When his friends and fellow jockeys come and see him they reflect on races from years ago and his memory is insanely sharp. I think it's starting to click that, 'Actually, I think I was all right. I don't think I did too bad a job'." 

The Graham Lee Racing Club was launched at Craig Lidster's North Yorkshire yard which is home to the two-year-old filly We've Got This, who takes her name from a defiant message Lee's wife Becky posted on social media soon after the Newcastle fall.

Lee's son Robbie was also present, along with former champion jockey Brian Hughes, Dawn Goodfellow from Racing Welfare, the Injured Jockeys Fund's Jack Berry plus a considerable media contingent and Amy said: "It's so nice that something so positive comes out of something so awful.

"I love meeting people who know Dad, everyone has their really cool stories and they've been wanting to help so much. It's nice to create something positive."

However, she added: "The world goes on, but for us four we're still at November 11, time's just stopped since then. Everyone has been carrying on, as they should, but it's nice that people are still caring at this point, five months down the line."

Annual membership for the Graham Lee Racing Club costs £17. It was set up by Phil Hawthorne's Good Racing Company, which has previously raised over £185,000 for motor neuron disease causes in honour of former rugby league star Rob Burrow.

"Graham and I were weighing room colleagues for over 12 years," said director of racing Paul Hanagan, who chose the filly. "I feel blessed to count him as a good friend. He's a true gent who has time for everyone. The Graham Lee Racing Club is a chance for everyone to help Graham and his wonderful family. It was an honour to select the horse." 

Hughes added: "It's a brilliant cause. Graham is a good friend of us all. It's devastating what's happened to him but everyone is showing their support here." 

Graham Lee said: "I'm really humbled that a fundraising racing club has been set up in my honour, and that Paul Hanagan has chosen the horse for me. I've been shown videos of the horse and she looks very promising. No pressure Paul, but I hope you've picked a winner! 

"I've seen what The Good Racing Company has achieved for Rob Burrow and how it's united the racing community. I have high hopes that this new racing club achieves the same success with We've Got This, and my family and I look forward to following the excitement and being part of this new community."

Details of how to join the racing club can be found at www.thegoodracing.co/graham-lee-racing-club

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