IMMIGRATION and racing officials are desperately working on getting the young family of a critically injured jockey on a 10,000kilometre mercy dash from a remote Indian village to John Hunter Hospital.
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Popular Muswellbrook-based hoop Hari ‘‘Harry’’ Singh, 27, remains in intensive care after suffering fractured vertebrae and bleeding on the brain following a race fall at Tamworth on Tuesday.
But as he continues to battle his way in and out of consciousness, officials are trying to get his wife Abu Tuver and their daughter Priya to his bedside for support.
The logistical nightmare includes trying to get urgent visas stamped on compassionate grounds before moving Abu and Priya from their home outside Rajasthan, about 200kilometres from Delhi, onto a plane and to Newcastle.
Racing NSW safety officer Maurice Logue said the difficulty began with trying to get a message to Singh’s wife via a translator before any of the other processes could begin to be put into place.
Singh’s popularity throughout the racing industry has prompted a wave of support following the fall.
‘‘When I first walked into the hospital it was like walking onto a racecourse, there was more than a dozen people there from the industry giving their support,’’ Mr Logue said.
‘‘He is a very likeable person, very polite, you would never hear anyone say a bad word about Harry.’’
Singh moved from India to the Hunter Valley more than five years ago, starting work as a stablehand before getting a start as an apprentice jockey.
He has spent time with trainers Paul Messara (Scone), Jeff Englebrecht (Muswellbrook) and Paul Perry (Newcastle).
‘‘He is a lovely kid. He only just got married and I feel so sorry because all the time he was with me you couldn’t have met a nicer young bloke,’’ Mr Perry said.
‘‘He came down here because he was showing promise in the bush and you only had to talk to him once and you knew that all he wanted to do was be a jockey.
‘‘The thing about him is unlike some other young people in this business, he was willing to learn and work hard.’’
Singh began riding in Mumbai, is now an Australian resident and was in the final stages of having the paperwork done for his young family to move to Muswellbrook for good.
Mr Logue said Mr Singh had sat up in bed for the first time on Wednesday night, briefly taking two sips of water before falling back into a deep sleep.
