Exercise rider Hutter showing improvement

SARATOA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An emotional George Weaver reported Thursday that his wife, Cindy Hutter, has started to show some progress in her long battle to recover from a significant brain injury suffered in a riding mishap on the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga on July 3.

Hutter is currently recuperating at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where she was transferred from Albany Medical Center a little over a week ago.

“She has started to show some encouraging signs since she was transferred to the Spaulding Hospital,” Weaver said. “She wasn’t technically in a coma [after the accident]. She was in a very diminished state of consciousness, but since she’s been there she’s opened her eyes some, she’s spoken a couple of words and has been able to respond to commands a little bit.

“We’re being told it’s a long road. There’s really no promises at this point how much of a recovery she might make or what the end result will be, but the progress she has made over the past week is probably about as good as we could expect based on what happened.”

Weaver, who drove to Boston along with his son Ben after training hours here Monday to visit with his wife for two days, said Hutter has been undergoing extensive therapy since being transferred to the Spaulding Hospital.

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“She’s in a great place right now and the progress we’ve seen these past days is because she’s there,” said Weaver. “She has physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy every day. Our focus is on giving her the best resources possible for her recovery.

“The energy it takes for her to go through all the rehab takes a lot of work on her part. Aside from Ben and I, her sister, her brother-in-law, her mother and her best friend have all been there to see her. She’s had somebody visit her every day to make sure she knows people are there for her. It’s been so heartwarming all the people who have reached out to us. Everybody knows Cindy. She’s been such an integral part of [Saratoga] for so many years.”

Weaver, his voice cracking, acknowledged that despite the positive signs of the past few days, it’s just the beginning of a long road to what hopefully will ultimately result in a complete recovery for his wife.

“Unfortunately, we’re now learning an awful lot about brain injuries because a member of our family has one,” said Weaver. “And we now know the brain will re-heal itself and re-wire itself based on input, which is why she is undergoing such intensive therapy. She still has a long ways to go. It’s out of our control. But we’ll continue to love her and take care of her no matter what the final outcome will be.”