ROMEROS NA ISSUE 30_Jerkins feature.qxd 24/10/2013 22:50 Page 2
GERALD AND RANDY ROMERO
RELATIVE VALUES:
Gerald and Randy Romero After nearly being burned alive in an explosion in the hotbox at Oaklawn Park in 1983, the last thing jockey Randy Romero remembers saying was, “Take me to Shreveport. Let my brother take care of me.” Trainer Gerald Romero has been taking care of his kid brother Randy for most of their lives. It started when they were kids trying to deal with their abusive father. “Gerald’s like a dad to me, the dad I never had,” Randy said.
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WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: BARBARA LIVINGSTON, BOB COGLIANESE, HORSEPHOTOS
OW Randy and Gerald’s lives have come full circle. Randy, a year removed from the difficult divorce of his wife Cricket after 37 years together, is living with Gerald and his family in Lafayette. Randy and Gerald are working together on Gerald’s horses. And, after an absence from the saddle of some five years, Randy began breezing Gerald’s horses earlier this year. “It’s like riding a bicycle,” Randy said. Maybe if you’re healthy. Randy, now 55, isn’t healthy. He hasn’t been healthy since he was nearly killed, losing his spleen in the process, in his first gruesome racing accident at the age of 18. He is in his 12th year of doing four-hour sessions of dialysis three times a week, a schedule he must maintain for the rest of his life. Recently, Randy had surgery, maybe his 30th major operation, when doctors detected two aneurisms as they tried to re-route an artery in Randy’s arm and
“He doesn’t complain. He fights to live every day. It’s tough to see him go through what he has to just to live every day. He says, ‘Gerald, there are people worse off than me’” Gerald on Randy neck for dialysis. “They found I had two aneurisms ready to pop,” Randy said. “They could have burst and I could have bled to death. They repaired it. It goes right to my heart.” Randy discusses this without the faintest trace of emotion, a testament to his favorite
saying, “Things happen for a reason.” Gerald still marvels at Randy’s outlook. “He’s an amazing person,” Gerald said. “He doesn’t whine. He doesn’t complain. He fights to live every day. It’s tough to see him go through what he has to just to live every day. He says, ‘Gerald, there are people worse off than me.’” Randy is reminded of that just about every time he goes to dialysis, where he’s not a famous jockey, but just another person trying to survive. Other patients have lost their legs or are confined to wheelchairs. They share stories. They console each other. As he has his whole life, Randy finds solace with horses. “He comes to the barn as often as he can,” Gerald said. “That’s what keeps him going. That was a major issue with his wife. She didn’t want him to get on them or be around them.” That’s like asking Randy to lie down and die. And that’s not Randy. That’s never been Randy, “He’s been a horseman his whole life,” Gerald said. “He loves the game. That’s why
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