Born on 2 December 1974, John Patrick Broderick was, on the suggestion of a neighbour who had just seen an Alan Ladd film, renamed Shane.
His parents, Noel and Mary, farmed at Lorrha in County Tipperary and Shane, once old enough, would help out with the sheep and cattle.
His Aunt, Bernie, married Gerry Lynch, the younger of two sons whose father was involved in point-to-point horses. Gerry was at that time making a living from training such animals, and, after the wedding, applied for a licence to train professionally.
Visiting his uncle's stables at Gantry near Craughwell, Shane was immediately captivated. Watching the horses galloping along the track at the back of the stable, Shane was hooked and begged to be allowed to sit on one. From that moment, all he ever wanted to do was to ride.
During the summer holidays, the ten-year-old was sent for a week to a riding school at Modreeny, near Nenagh, run by Captain Donald Swan, the father of future Irish Champion jockey Charlie.
On his return, Shane pleaded for his own pony and was taken to Ballinasloe horse fair.
Shane knew exactly what he was looking for: discarding the ponies which were too big or too small, he settled for a small, brown mare with, as his father noted, a kindly expression.
Arriving back at the farm, Shane christened her Candy and saddled up for the first time. Candy, having barely been broken in, had no idea what was expected of her, and stood still. It took Shane several weekends to make progress but, eventually, the art of walking, trotting and galloping was mastered.
Pony racing is part of the Irish racing heritage. Races are held every weekend during the summer and remain the training ground of many top jockeys. Adrian Maguire, Sam Twiston-Davies and Charlie Swan are just three famous jockeys who began their careers on the pony-racing circuit.
Having outgrown Candy, he acquired the use of a bigger animal and was persuaded to enter a local pony race in Portumma. He came fourth - but the seed was sown.
Leaving school at 15, he began working full-time for his Uncle Gerry, who contacted Jimmy Brady.
From Roscommon, Brady had been involved with pony racing since his childhood and was looking for a rider for the younger ponies he owned. Shane seemed to fit the bill and was given the red and white silks of Smokey Lady, a pony of which Brady had high hopes.
Perhaps because of over-confidence, Shane mistimed his finish and was beaten a short head. He was furious with himself and set about making amends.
He ran up a sequence of wins on Smokey Lady before being offered the ride on Sean McGann's Sammy Jo during the 1992 season. Shane and Sammy Jo notched up eight wins during that season.
When, later, they won Dingle Derby together, Sean McGann was approached by Limerick Michael Hourigan, who trained at Patrickswell.
Shane was on his way.
He was granted his jockey licence in January 1993. His first ride came at Clonmel in early February. Riding Mary's Course, Shane trailed in eleventh of the eighteen runners. The winner, Another Deadly, was a horse who would later have a profound impact on Shane's life.
At Thurles a week later, Hourigan gave Shane a leg-up on the stable's second string, Golden Opal. Taking up the running at the second last, Shane sprinted away for his first-ever success.
Shane's association with Doran's Pride began shortly after.
They won their first two races together and Shane was told that he was to ride the horse in the Sun Alliance at the Cheltenham Festival. It was a big ask: the favourite was the Charlie Swan-
ridden Danoli upon which a small fortune had been staked. At the final obstacle Danoli put in a tired jump but Doran's Lad, two lengths behind, came down. Swan insisted that he would have won even had Shane's mount not fallen. Shane's star was then in the ascendant. More rides brought more winners which, in turn, gave Shane greater financial security and rewards. One such reward was the car he bought himself. He was then living away from the yard and the hour's drive from Lorrha each morning gave him the chance to indulge in his love of speed
On Saturday, January 14, 1995, Shane rode what many people consider to be his finest race. Still listed on the racecard as J. Broderick, he had been booked to ride 25/1 outsider Anusha, an unimposing, scrawny mare, in the Ladbroke Handicap Hurdle. Worth £39,000, the prize seemed to be beyond its capabilities; indeed, Shane's riding instructions were to go out and enjoy himself. He certainly did that, coming home the one length shock winner.
Anusha had been mistakenly left in the race at the overnight forfeit stage: as the entry fees had already been paid the owner decided to let her run.
Shane said: 'I didn't think she had any chance as the ground had gone against her, but she really ran on well.'
It had been a great day, yet his greatest was just weeks away.
Thursday, March 16 1995, and at 2.50, twelve runners lined up for the Bonussprint Stayers' Hurdle.
Doran's Pride had positively thrived on all the attention showered on her. So, too, her young jockey and now, as the tapes rose, Shane quickly fell behind the two leaders.
Back in Lisaleen, Shane's mates, gathered around a television, could scarcely breathe. Thoughts of last year's last flight fall haunted them and, approaching it now, Shane and Doran's Pride were clear with only the final jump between them and victory.
Effortlessly they sailed over, and the room erupted as Shane and the mare raced into history.
On Easter Monday, 31 March 1997, Shane rode his final winner.
It had been quite a tussle, with Shane's mount, Royal Oasis, and Applefort jumping the last together. A better jump had put Applefort back in front but Shane, excelling, drove Royal Oasis on to snatch back the lead and win by half a length.
His final ride of the day was Another Deadly, the horse that Shane had finished behind in his first-ever race. The race, the Nuzam Handicap Steeplechase, was scheduled to start at 5.05.
At the ninth fence, Another Deadly clipped the top of the obstacle. And fell...
In that brief moment, at the age of just 22, it was all over for Shane.
Doctor Walter Halley, the Turf Club's Chief Medical Officer, was following the race in the second of the two ambulances trailing the runners. He recalled 'Once I got to Shane I knew that he was severely injured. It was a critical situation. I knew that he was experiencing severe respiratory problems and that also he had a severe head injury which turned out to be a high spinal cord injury...'
Shane was taken to Blanchardstown Hospital. Semi-conscious, he looked at Doctor Halley.
He said 'I can feel nothing.'
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For the first two days after the accident, the battle was simply to live.
As cards and messages flooded into the Rehabilitation Hospital at Dun Loaghaire, Co Dublin - to be read out to him by family and friends - Shane, having slowly regained consciousness, lay trapped in a body which could not move. Having broken the fifth cervical vertebra, the nerve connection to his brain which stimulates movement had been broken: paralysed from the shoulder down, Shane - suffering the loss of the use of all four limbs - was a quadriplegic.
News of the severity of his injury gradually filtered through to his racing friends, many attending or riding at the English Grand National meeting, souring the scene. It could happen to anyone of them and they knew it.
Shane, still striving to come to terms with paralysis, began the long process of being able to breathe unaided. On 26 June, two months after his accident, he was able to breathe unaided and was taken off the life support machine.
Meanwhile, having been advised that one million pound would be needed to support Shane and to provide the medical care and equipment that he would require, his friends decided to launch an appeal to try to generate the money. The magnificent response to the Shane Broderick Appeal Fund astonished Shane: the thought that so many people cared so much gave him a tremendous comfort and lifted his spirit.
Special events to boost the fund were organized: 'Go Bald for Shane' - in which jockeys had their heads shaved - raised an astonishing £78,500 while collections were made at the hugely popular Galway six-day festival. Many jockeys donated their riding fees to the Appeal. By the end of August, the fund stood at £425,000, nearly halfway to the target. By September, it stood at £650,000.
To break the monotony of hospital routine, Shane was taken on various outings: always followed by an ambulance and oxygen just in case, he visited a local zoo, spent a day in the Dublin mountains and attended a wedding.
A year after his accident, Shane was invited to the Benson & Hedges Irish Masters Snooker Final by Kevin Norton who had a horse in training with Michael O'Brien, who had also been paralysed in a racing accident. There, Shane met all the top snooker players and was given a pair of cuff-links to commemorate the evening.
It was also then that he returned home to the farm at Lorrha where his mother, with the help of nursing assistant Chrissy, would take care of him. Shane's priority now was to gain maximum independence. A battery-powered wheelchair was bought and adapted to suit Shane's needs: he could change its direction by moving a trackball with his nose.
A large car was also customized, enabling Shane to drive his electric wheelchair up a short ramp and into the front passenger seat.
Then a bungalow was designed and built close to his family home: began in January 1998, it was ready that Christmas. Plans are afoot to add stables at the back.
Shane may no longer be able to ride, but there's nothing to stop him from becoming a trainer.
And that's what he intends to do.
