Ballymoney’s Seamus Elliott has made ‘miraculous’ progress following a serious accident at the Faugheen 50 road races in Co Tipperary last Sunday.

The 30-year-old sustained head injuries and multiple fractures in the crash, which occurred at high speed shortly after the start of the Open Superbike race.

Elliott was airlifted from the scene to Cork University Hospital by the Irish Coastguard and in an interview with the News Letter hours after the incident, his father Danny said doctors had warned him of the severity of his injuries, which included bleeding on the right side of the brain.

He was placed in an induced coma but is now awake and talking having made excellent progress over the past seven days.

At the Armoy road races on Saturday, Aaron Boyd – who has supplied Seamus with a 400cc Yamaha this season – provided the latest update on his condition and said his recovery has been nothing short of remarkable.

“I was speaking to Seamus yesterday afternoon [Friday] and he apologised as he wouldn’t be at Armoy because he rides one of our 400s,” he said.

“It’s a miracle how far he has come in a few days because he was very badly injured. He is sitting up talking and I would say you might see Seamus back on a bike in the future.

“It affects you when something like that happens because we know Seamus well and it has affected me today – my mind wasn’t even on my own race because when something like this happens, it hits you hard and makes you think,” he added.

“But thankfully Seamus has been doing really well because it wasn’t good initially and he’s come on leaps and bounds, which is great news for everyone.”

A frontrunner at the Irish National road races, Elliott claimed a major win last year at the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man in the 600cc Supersport class.

He impressed again at the same event earlier this month, finishing in fourth place in the Senior race and sixth in the headline Solo Championship race at the Billown course.