AQHA President Peter J Cofrancesco III has been a fixture at the All American Quarter Horse Congress his entire life. Cofrancesco’s heath has been questionable over the past few months, and many wondered if he would be able to make the trip from Sparta, New Jersey to Columbus this year. Not only did Cofrancesco make the trip, he sat down for an exclusive interview with GoHorseShow.com and talked publicly for the first time about his health.
Many people are unaware of exactly what happened and how he is doing now. Peter explained to us in detail exactly what happened and about his road to recovery.
The problems started the day after he attended the five day Memorial Day AQHA show in Harlansburg, Pennsylvania. He recalls that he woke up in the middle of the night with his left leg very swollen, and he was in tremendous pain. Cofrancesco called his doctor who told him to immediately go to the hospital.
After checking into the hospital, the doctors first thought he had MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics), or maybe had been bitten by an insect or something. He was severely dehydrated, and the doctors determined he had an infection in his leg that wreaked havoc with his entire body and the infection found its way into in his blood stream. Cofrancesco spent an unbelievable 62 days in the hospital and was forced to take four different antibiotic medications to try and clear up the infection.
Since he was so severely dehydrated, they ended up putting a port in his chest for the antibiotics to be given intravenously. Unfortunately, this resulted in the doctor accidentally nicking his left vocal cord leaving him severely hoarse. After his infection cleared up, he couldn’t stand up because he was so weak, so, he had to go to physical therapy for ten days to gain his strength back.
While in the hospital, Cofrancesco faced a new challenge to being the hands-on President he had been until falling ill. “(Fortunately) at the beginning of my Presidency, I had already set in motion what I wanted accomplished, and the staff was fully aware and able to continue my goals this year even during my illness. I am most proud of the leveling program and the rookie shows that we have started to implement. My goal is to create an opportunity for riders at any level to be successful, and I believe we are headed in the right direction with these new programs.”
The trip to Columbus was not all work. Peter was very grateful that he was able to attend the Congress with his wife Carmen and three young children. He was able to watch his 10 year-old daughter, Ireland, win her very first Congress trophy in the Youth Aged Mares with her horse, Senara. ( Ireland pictured right with AQHYA President Abigail Pait)
“We raised her so she is really special to us,” Peter says. “It was the first time Ireland ever had the opportunity to show her and she did really well. She practiced every day at home, and she did really well presenting her in the class. “
As far as how his heath is now—he said that he feels great and that his heath has improved tremendously since he first went to the hospital.
Peter adds, “I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement from my wonderful friends in the industry during my illness. This experience definitely put things in perspective. Friends and family are the most important. Being away from home for two months gave me a lot of time to reflect on things. Life is precious and no one should take it for granted.”
We thank Peter for his time and wish him and his family good health in the future.
