Debate has raged as to whether to the actions of protestors contributed to the death of horse Hill Sixteen at the Grand National - but there were also horrific consequences for a female spectator.
The Aintree race was delayed by around 12 minutes after members of the group Animal Rising clashed with police, making attempts to scale the fence and make their way onto the course. As well as the fatality, a further 21 horses failed to finish the National, a notion widely attributed to the anxiety caused by the disruption.
But the activists also blocked the exits to the famous racecourse, denying Jo Nagra the opportunity to make an exit. She'd decided to leave with her husband and two children following the initial trouble, deeming it unsafe to stay.
And her fears were soon realised when Recite a Day and Galvin, both of whom had fallen at the first and unseated their riders, seared towards her at full pace. And the 44-year-old was duly smashed against a concrete bollard, leaving her knocked unconscious with debilitating injuries.
Recalling her ordeal, she told The Sun : “We’d have been able to get to our car before the race started if they hadn’t been there. It’s not safe," eh said. “We were walking back to our vehicle at the Steeplechase car park but we weren’t allowed to leave.
“They’d had to lock it all down due to protesters trying to get in. Instead, we were told to wait in a small area next to the fence while the race was on We should never have been allowed to stand there, I remember seeing the horses hurtling towards me and it was terrifying."
Nagra, from Birmingham, is currently on crutches and has no feeling in her right foot, is now awaiting to see if she has suffered permanent damage. She described the rest of the family as being "traumatised," but also expressed relief that neither of her children was hurt.
And despite empathising with the protestors, she also urged them to reconsider their methods of protest: "Although I sympathise with them to an extent, as we were quite shocked at how many horses died, they need to think about the impact their disruption can have," she added.
Group members later took to the motorway, forcing the closure of the M57, with Merseyside Police later confirming they made 118 arrests over the course of the day. Aintree Racecourse have confirmed they are investigating the incident involving Nagra.
