Olympic gold medalist Joe Fargis suffered a serious fall yesterday, April 30, while competing in a 1.30-meter jumper class at Lexington Spring Encore in Lexington, Va.
Fargis fell when his mount, Last Dance, crashed at the second element of an oxer-vertical combination.
According to show manager Leslie Brown, EMTs attended to Fargis before an ambulance transported him to the hospital.
Fargis, who operates Sandron Farm out of Middleburg, Va., suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung as well as internal bleeding.
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“The biggest concern was getting the internal bleeding under control, and at the moment it is,” said his partner Conrad Homfeld on May 1. “They have to keep monitoring it. The other things are painful, but they’re not anything as threatening. But at the moment we’re heading in the right direction. At the moment they’re anticipating he’ll be in the hospital for five to seven days.”
He’s currently in the intensive care unit at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Va.
Fargis, 66, won individual and team gold on Touch Of Class at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and helped Team USA win silver aboard Mill Pearl at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games (South Korea). The U.S. Equestrian Federation also honored Fargis with the Jimmy A. Williams Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
