English-born jockey Gary Doughty is unlikely to ever ride again after doctors confirmed he had lost the sight in his right eye following a fall at Ipswich, Australia last Saturday.
Doughty's wife Kelly said her husband was slowly coming to terms with the prospect of not riding again but was thankful to be still alive.
"It's hit him a bit hard but he's thankful he's still with us," Mrs Doughty said.
Doughty, 41, suffered severe head injuries, including a brain haemorrhage, when he was dislodged from River Affair on the home turn in the Eye Liner Stakes.
The Eye Liner preceded one of Australia's worst race pile-ups, the eight-horse fall in the Ipswich Cup.
Doughty was told by a neurosurgeon on Sunday it was a miracle he survived the accident as he had come within a "hair's breadth" of dying on Saturday night.
He was taken off the intensive care list on Sunday and is now in a satisfactory and stable condition in Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.
"He's had two doctors look at him and they both believe he won't get his sight back in the right eye," Mrs Doughty said.
"The optic nerve in the eye has been damaged and it doesn't look good that he'll ever ride again.
"He's quite aware of what the doctors have told him and he said to me 'This could be it. This could be it'."
Meanwhile, Matthew Paget is the only rider still hospitalised after the dramatic Ipswich Cup incident.
He will remain in hospital for several weeks recovering from a dislocated hip, broken collarbone and broken arm suffered when his mount Sea Breeze was one of eight horses to come to grief in the Ipswich Cup.
