On Sept. 3, Kevin Babington completed a five-hour surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center to stabilize the bones in his neck following a fall at the Hampton Classic Horse Show (New York) on Shorapur. During the $75,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Qualifier on Aug. 30, Babington and Shorapur crashed through the third element in a triple combination, with Babington falling forward off the horse.

“Today I sit in this hospital living the darkest hour of my life,” said Babington’s wife Dianna Babington on Facebook. “He has suffered a complete injury to his cervical spine and today is to prevent him from living in a cervical collar.”

Babington is stable following the surgery. He is breathing on his own and is no longer in a collar.

Kevin Babington is stable and breathing on his own following surgery to repair his neck. Molly Sorge Photo.

“All good news,” texted his sister Daun Imperatore. “The next step is to heal from this and then move on to rehabilitation. They said take it day by day to see how the swelling subsided and to be proactive with his physical therapy.”

A GoFundMe was set up to help the Babingtons cover Kevin’s medical expenses, as well as a Facebook fundraising campaign. As of Sept. 3, they have totaled together $305,584 for the 51-year-old.

“My hope for him is focused on quality of life and that there will be clinical trials to help him move forward,” said Dianna on Facebook. “Much of these avenues are not covered by insurance and will be dependent on private funding. I am sharing this because I want people to understand that the fundraising is essential. It can mean the difference in equipment available to him, therapies, vehicles, honestly I don’t even know.

“If you know him you know he is talented but humble, kind, private, and giving among all things,” she continued. “He was the friend that tried to donate a kidney when one was needed. He is the trainer that didn’t charge the kid he knew couldn’t afford the lesson. He is a vegetarian because he found slaughter impossible to support and is so empathetic to living things he couldn’t eat them. He literally helped me give shots of antibiotics to a fish with swim bladder (not joking) when our daughter’s fish was upside down. He stops to take turtles off the road. Stops to assist when a horse trailer has a flat. He ran from two rings away to help save a horse’s leg that was caught in a roll-top after a spill. So many of you have more stories to retell of how he helped you than I even know. Above all things he is a great father and life partner, and as he lays here he is panicking about the three of us instead of himself. I am so thankful for all the support we have received there are no words.”