Dr. Melvyn Aylor, a prominent Florida horseman and mainstay of the Florida harness racing community, was seriously injured in a training accident at the Gilcrest training center on Tuesday.
“It was a freak accident. Melvyn was jogging a 2-year-old filly,” said friend and partner Dr. Mark Wooten. “She had the hopples on for the first time and got spooked. She took off, got going too fast, got all tangled up and went down. Melvyn was thrown in between her and the jog cart and got kicked in the face. It’s very serious. There was a lot of blood going into his lungs and sinuses. Dr. Barry Carter and Sandra Burns were there and they got to him pretty quickly. If not for their quick action, it would have been even more serious. They probably saved his life. It meant everything. The horse didn’t have a scratch on her.”
Aylor was taken to the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital in Gainesville where he remains in stable but critical condition. He was unconscious after the accident and remains in an induced coma while doctors attempt to relieve the swelling in his brain. “They said the first 72 hours would be critical,” said Dr. Wooten. “His daughter told me that they had reduced his sedation to some degree and he’s had some more movement. His intracranial pressure is holding steady. They’ve had catheters in to relieve the pressure on his brain. They’ve had to drain them a couple of times, but they haven’t had to since last night. He’s held stable, but the next 24 hours are critical, I think. I hope everybody says a prayer for him.” Wooten added that the horsemen at Gilcrest are doing everything they can for Aylor. "Everybody in Gilcrest is pretty shaken and disturbed by what happened, but they’re all pitching in to help out. Melvyn is quite a mainstay down here--he’s on the Florida Standardbred Breeders & Owners board of directors and he’s president of the group at Gilcrest. He’s been in the business pretty much all his life.” A member of the Florida USHWA Hall of Fame, Aylor is a licensed veterinarian and has owned and bred over 150 horses, including one-time Florida stallions Mean Mr Mustard and Miami Mogul.
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