Aodhagan Conlon

Pronounced 'aye ghan', it's Gaelic for splendor.

Between January 2010 and August 2012 he worked as a conditional jockey for Rebecca Curtis.

He then turned professional, riding, as such, until May 2014.

On December 5, 2011 Aodhagan Colon had a ride at Hereford, a course which had first opened its gates in 1771, but which, after the last race that day, would close forever.

Aodhagan was to ride a chaser called Prime Edition. It was the horse's first run since he and young Aodhagan had slogged home triumphantly in the Welsh mud at Ffos Las on  May 12. They had, then, come home convincing winners; trained by Paul and Debra Hamer at Nantycwas, some five mile from Carmarthen Castle, more success seemed certain.

But it was not to be.

With three fences to jump, Prime Edition slipped into third place, a length or so off the lead.

Then, disaster. The tiring horse changed its mind on take-off. Instead of the expected leap, Prime Edition just stepped on the fence. Somersaulting, the horse crashed to the ground crushing his vertebrae. He also smashed Aodhagan's face into the ground.

Screens were immediately erected.

Aodhagan's face had been brutally battered. He'd also broken several bones.

Amazingly, the young jockey eventually recovered, and rode again.

Prime Edition was not so lucky.

Having difficulty moving, he was not allowed to struggle for long;  a compassionate bullet ended his suffering.

Speaking later of his accident Aodhagan said: 'The time I spent on the sidelines gave me a chance to take stock of where I was in my career. I was aware that I hadn’t been progressing as I would have hoped and decided to give it 110% for another season. If things didn’t click then I would switch my attentions towards my future. Unfortunately I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped and so I began looking at university options.  My sponsor Enda McNulty, is a sports psychologist to, among others, the Irish Rugby team. We had previously done a lot of work together and it was an area that I was fascinated in. I was confident that it was the right path to take and that I could be successful at it. After some research I applied to Bath Spa University and was fortunately accepted to undertake their Psychology degree.'