Page 12 - February 2009 The Game

12 The Game, February 2009
Kelly Dodds, Still a regular Guy By Jackie Humber
A little more than two years ago Dodds’ routine life took a drastic turn. “I got up one night and my leg gave out on me and I had
to phone 911, it was a little scary,” he recalls.
For the past 25 years Kelly Dodds’ life has remained the same routine. He awakes at 4:30 am, has a quick breakfast and walks two blocks to Hastings Racecourse where he walks hots for various trainers.
“I actually started walking hots and grooming with Sid Martin when I was a teenager, he had a lot of horses back then, “recalled Dodds. During his time at Hastings he has worked for many trainers, including Sid Martin, Dennis Terry Sr., Ed Thompson, Pat Gormley and Frank Ma. “I also worked at Frankie’s farm in the winter some years back,” said Dodds.
Dodds would spend
the next 3 weeks in Burnaby General Hospital undergoing many tests and
This season he helped, Bill Konyk Jr., Jerome and Linda Partington and Greg McKinley. “It was a lot of work but we all work together and I’ve learned a lot from each trainer,” he confesses.
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“Actually I only have to go to dialysis three times a week and I take about 10 pills a day and I was shown how to inject myself once a day with insulin. The real job for me is just keeping track of my blood sugars, but my mother helps me with that,” he said.
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In 2006 he and a couple of his friends went to Kentucky and watched the Kentucky Oaks. Then in 2007 Dodds travelled to the Indianapolis 500 “I still get to go and help at the track too, but I just get a little tired quicker than I used to,” said Dodds.
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“All my nurses and Doctor Young at the Dialysis Centre at 6th and Ash do a great job. They make it very comfortable for me there,” he said. The only thing Dodds is waiting for now is a kidney transplant. “My doctors told me the waiting list is about 7 years for a kidney, so I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and live my life and wait for my new kidney,” he said with a smile.
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(Capote - Boom Bird, by Storm Bird) Stakes Winners
That Jockey Jake Barton earned his 2000th career victory with Song of Pirates at Turf Paradise on January 19. The 41-year-old made his riding debut in 1985 in Farmington, New Mexico, at San Juan Downs (now Sun Ray Park). A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Jake has spent the previous 17 years riding in Canada. Each winter, he relocates to warmer climates in Arizona, California, or New Mexico. “A lot of my stakes wins have come in Canada,” Barton said. “I’ve ridden some really good horses up there.”
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The Game February 2009.indd
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1/28/09 1:59:42 AM
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Kelly Dodds in the Paddock at Hastings
“The Kidney doctor came in and told me I only have one kidney and that it wasn’t functioning 100 per cent,” said Dodds. In fact his one kidney was only functioning at a mere 15 per cent and this would mean that Dodds would have to immediately start dialysis.
sleepless nights before nally being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Before he left the hospital he would hear more bad news.
As an only child Dodds does not have the option of receiving a siblings kidney. “I am on the transplant list and I guess I just have to wait my turn,” he said.
The four hours he spends getting his blood cleaned three times a week has not deterred Dodds from traveling or helping at the track.
For the past two years Dodds has had the same doctors and nurses caring for him during his dialysis sessions and believes they deserve a lot of credit for their hard work.