Aussie jockey exposes the horrific toll of head knocks on his mental health as he’s left a recluse

Aussie jockey Daniel Pitomac has opened up about his terrifying health battle that’s so serious that he barely leaves the house anymore as the effects of head knocks leave him a shell of his former self.

The 42-year-old dad-of-two now lives with a brain injury after repeated concussions and head knocks throughout his career, and it’s having a devastating effect on his life.

Pitomac, who lives in the NSW country town of Wellington, will soon have his story told as part of a three-part report into the potential impacts of repeated head trauma for jockeys. 

‘I don’t do anything anymore, these days I just sit at home and watch TV and that is the extent of my life,’ he told News Corp.

‘I know that I’m having this conversation with you today. But come tomorrow, I might think this conversation happened a week ago.

Falls like this one at Randwick in 2019 have left the hoop ‘very worried’ about his future as he’s left struggling just to go to the shops

‘Or in an hour, I might remember that I’ve talked to you but I won’t remember what I’ve actually said to you.

‘I am very worried about my future. I’m tired, always tired.

‘I’m not me anymore.’

Pitomac, who is married to jockey Kath Pitomac, hasn’t raced since 2019 and now says he finds it difficult to do the most basic tasks.

‘Jockeys are fairly sociable, there is no real fear in them. But these days I am flat out going to the shops.

‘I try to stay at home all the time, I’m really insecure around people. If I ever go out, it has to be with my wife or my best friend.

‘I could handle that, as long as they don’t go away from me.

Pitomac, who is married to jockey Kath Pitomac, hasn’t raced since 2019 and now says he finds it difficult to do the most basic tasks

‘But if they do go to the toilet, I have pretty much got to be with them.’

Awareness around the long-term effects of concussions has increased recently, with the NRL introducing new concussion protocols, and the AFL being hit with a class action from more than 60 former players who say they are suffering the after effects of head injuries.

Pitomac says he’s had countless head knocks, but his worst one was when he fell in the barriers at Wellington. 

‘I was in the barriers and the horse just went off, I don’t actually remember it all,’ Pitomac said.

‘I thought I got off the horse and got away from it, but apparently I was dragged out of the barriers because I had blacked out.

‘The ambulance team wanted to take me to hospital but I was so concussed that I was initially refusing to go as I wanted to ride in the next race.

‘The thing with concussion is that it’s not like if you break your arm – when you have your arm in plaster everyone knows it is broken.

Pitomac says he’s had countless head knocks, but his worst one was when he fell in the barriers at Wellington

‘Concussion is much harder for people to understand.

‘I have headaches all the time, memory loss, balance and co-ordination issues.

‘Bright lights worry me. I have a huge problem with staying asleep, I probably wake up 10 times a night.’

Pitomac’s neurologist says it’s possible he has CTE from all the trauma he has endured through racing.

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a neurodegenerative disease that can affect athletes who endure repeated concussions and head knocks during their careers in contact sports such as rugby league, martial arts and American football.

Pitomac has read up about it and says it’s ‘pretty much a death sentence’, so he wants more to be done to educate jockeys.

‘It’s a tricky subject, but I would like to see the racing industry look into these issues further,’ he says.

‘And if telling my story helps one other jockey look after themselves better, that will make me happy.’