A young jockey from Down had the worst of days on the track on Sunday, when he was first injured in a race and then made much worse by the emergency services.

Chris Meehan has spent the summer racing in Italy, and was riding in a hurdle in Merano when he was unseated.

He received a kick in the face while on the ground, breaking his nose and opening up a large gash on his face.

“The starter came over to help me because I was on my back and choking on my blood,” Meehan told the Racing Post. “He put me in the recovery position, with my right leg out straight.”

The jockey’s day was about to get even worse.

“The racecourse ambulance came up alongside us and reversed up onto my leg,” he explained.

“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.”

Meehan is planning to return to Ireland in the coming days and faces surgery on both his leg and his face.

Despite the pain caused he has chosen to see the funny side of the incident, saying: “You have to laugh really.”

Split open jaw, broken nose, broken leg and dislocated ankle (thanks to Italian ambulance. And not one painkiller for poor Chris!

— TheAntonSavageShow (@AntonSavageShow) July 5, 2016

To add to the strangeness of the situation, Meehan’s father trains ambulance personnel for a living.

“What makes it worse is my father, brother, auntie, they’re all ambulance people!” he laughed.

“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.”

We imagine Meehan’s dad would have plenty to say to the driver who ran over his son’s leg.

The jockey now faces at least two months on the sidelines, but is already planning his return to racing afterwards.

Best wishes for the recovery Chris.