Reed sustained substantial upper body injuries when his bike bogged on the approach to a technical section and sent him flying into the face of another obstacle.

The Australian was left vomiting blood, but still left hospital in time to make a token heat and last chance qualifying appearance - necessary to start the main event under the provisional entry rules for a top ten rider.

The run of bad luck followed the Australian to the main event where he was brought down in the first turn of the 20 lap race. But Reed remounted his Yamaha YZ450F in 21st position before embarking upon what commentators described as the one of the greatest rides in AMA Supercross history.

He repeatedly pushed his way through the pain barrier and whilst riding with a broken shoulder blade, passed over half the field to eventually finish 12th.

"It is all still a bit of a blur," said Reed. "I came down hard and the next thing I knew I was in excruciating pain and vomiting more blood than I had seen in my life.

"Medical staff at the hospital confirmed what I already knew - that my shoulder was broken and diagnosed the blood loss as abdominal contusions.

"Once we knew where we were at I begged them to let me return to the track, which I did against their advice. I know my competition well, I knew what I had to get done today and I needed to be out there," he explained.

"My plan was to finish inside the top ten no matter what. Unfortunately I was taken down in the first turn so from there it was just head down and try to claim as many spots as possible.

"It hasn't been the best of nights, but it could have been a lot worse. The championship was at stake and I want that title more than anything, so not making it to the starting gate was never an option.