The ‘game-changer’ drug that has transformed the life of jockey Harry Coffey

“I actually could have continued to ride, but [the break] was something I needed.”

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From an early age, Coffey wanted to be a jockey. He grew up in a racing family – his father Austy is a racehorse trainer – and after doing a school-based apprenticeship as a jockey, he stepped into the riding ranks.

But Coffey didn’t want his condition to be made a big deal of.

“Before I started riding, I just went along quietly and when I started riding, I didn’t really like ‘the sick kid’, ‘he does it tough’, ‘amazing story’ [narrative]. I was really against it,” Coffey said.

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“But as I’ve matured, I’ve become to understand it’s not about me.”

Now married to wife Tayla and father to five-and-a-half-month-old Thomas, Coffey is aware his story provides inspiration to many other families who have children with cystic fibrosis.

“I think there’s a lot of people with CF, especially families with CF, that follow my story and like to see me do well,” said Coffey.

“It’s a funny thing because, looking at someone, you don’t know they’ve got it, but actually, when it’s all torn away, and you actually understand it and get to know the person, they’re doing an amazing job to get up and be able to be considered living a normal life.”

For the past few years, a new drug called Trikafta – which tricks his body into thinking it has a gene that he is missing – has changed Coffey’s life.

“It’s two tablets in the morning and a tablet at night, and it’s an absolute game-changer,” Coffey said.

“I wouldn’t be able to do the workload that I am currently doing if I was not as healthy as what I am now.

“After most races, I would need to clear my airways with a cough and I would come back in quite fatigued and short of breath, whereas now I’m feeling a lot better, not short in breath.

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“You would have noticed in a lot of my interviews, say two or three years ago, I would have been heaving and quite red in the face and fatigued, whereas now my recovery instantly after a race is a lot better. That’s been the biggest difference.

“Also, my quality of life is a lot better at home too. You’d wake up in the middle of the night coughing, needing to clear your airways, where now you get a better sleep and just getting up and doing things has become a lot easier with being healthy because I’ve got more energy to do normal people stuff.”

Now, Coffey is looking to continue where he left off before the pandemic, on target to amass 100-plus winners for the fifth straight season.

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