The Gallop Out

 John Shear. Photo courtesy Curt Larson.

If you haven't heard by now, 90-year-old paddock guard John Shear is being lauded as a hero after throwing himself between a loose horse and 6-year-old girl Feb. 12 at Santa Anita Park.

I was there, unfortunately, though I missed most of the incident. I was talking with a friend at the opposite end of the paddock when all of a sudden I heard people yelling and saw a horse's head above the crowd, moving full speed through the walking ring. Next thing I saw was the horse running farther down the path and turning to go back to the barn area. I gleaned from the shocked faces walking away from the scene that the horse forced its way through the corner rope and someone was down and seriously injured.

I immediately thought about John, the friendly lil' guy that I always say "hi" to when I pass him in my many travels around the paddock grounds. I knew he stood at the spot where the horse barged through, because it's my favorite spot to take photos in the paddock. I would normally object to someone coming to stand in front of me right before the horses come past, but Little John was never a problem because I could see right over his head.

I spotted two of my friends that were mere feet away from the accident and as I approached them to ask what happened, they looked at me with distraught faces, on the verge of tears, and said, "It's Little John."

My worst fears were confirmed. Trained paramedics were there within a minute, a short jaunt from the first aid office at the far end of the paddock gardens. John was down for quite a while, losing blood, but he was eventually wheeled off on a stretcher, leaving behind many very worried friends, co-workers and strangers. I learned more as the day went on, and have read all the stories since, updating John's recovery. He still has a long way to go, but so far the news has been a big relief compared to what I had feared.

John was practically unknown outside of Southern California racetracks before his heroic actions, but his story has gradually made it farther up the media ladder. I was inspired today to write about the incident because because it made it onto what I consider its biggest stage yet - ESPN television. LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke wrote a great story about John on Wednesday, March 23, first published on their website on Tuesday night. The story remained at the top of the sports section for a majority of the day. As soon as I read it, I hoped Plaschke would win that day's episode of Around the Horn on ESPN and use his "face time" at the end of the popular sports debate show to tell John's story to a new, larger audience. Sure enough, he did win, and did talk about it!

Click here to download and listen to an audio podcast of the March 23 episode. Skip to the last minute to hear Plaschke's tale that left host Tony Reali "speechless."

I want to conclude by saying "thank you!" to Bill Plaschke for letting more people know about a true hero!