Jockey kicked in face by horse was then run over by ambulance that had gone to his aid

Jockey Chris Meehan had an unfortunate day on Sunday when the ambulance going to his aid after he was kicked in the face by a horse ran over his leg and broke it.



Meehan, who was nearing the end of a summer stint in Italy, was riding in a hurdle race at Merano when he was unshipped by his mount and subsequently kicked in the face. The blow initially knocked Meehan out, broke his nose and left a gash in his jaw requiring 27 stitches. "The starter came over to help me because I was on my back and choking on my blood," Meehan explained.

"He put me in the recovery position, with my right leg out straight. As if that wasn't bad enough, the racecourse ambulance came up alongside us and reversed up onto my leg. They stopped it on top of my leg so I started screaming; it broke it straight away. Everyone around me had to push it off me. You have to laugh really."



Meehan, who will return to Ireland for surgery on both his leg and face, can see the funny side and added: "What makes it worse is my father, brother, auntie, they're all ambulance people! My father actually teaches most people in Northern Ireland and England how to drive the ambulance! It's bizarre, you couldn't make it up." Meehan now faces at least two months on the sidelines.