Swell guy Hanagan hoping to be back soon after Carlisle sting

Paul Hanagan was hoping to return to action at Beverley on Wednesday after suffering a frightening allergic reaction to a wasp sting.

The former champion jockey was forced to give up his rides on Tuesday due to severe swelling in his left hand.

"It is like a mini football," he said. "It has swollen up right to the elbow and I can't clench my fist.

Paul Hanagan shows the severe swelling in his left handCredit: Paul Hanagan

"I've been to the hospital and I'm on so many tablets, I hope the swelling will go down tonight. I'm hoping to ride tomorrow but it's looking a bit dodgy."

The incident occurred as Hanagan was completing a double on Powerful Society at Carlisle on Monday.

"I felt my hand throbbing when I was unsaddling and I thought I might have just banged it coming out of the stalls," he recalled. "But I had to go to the stewards' room and as I was stood in there I thought I was going to faint.

Paul Hanagan: whole body came out in blotchesCredit: Paul Hanagan

"I got all my gear off and my whole body came out in blotches. There was just a bit of a mark on my hand where I had been stung and that swelled up. It must have happened during the race but I didn't feel it at the time with the adrenalin pumping."They gave me an injection at the races that seemed to calm it but as soon as I got home I took a really bad turn and I couldn't stop being sick. So I went to hospital and they gave me antibiotics. I hope that's got on top of it now."

Even if he misses Beverley, Hanagan, champion jockey in 2010 and 2011, hopes to be able to ride at the Ayr Gold Cup meeting which starts on Thursday.

"In all the years I've been riding this has never happened before," he said. "It was frightening as my lips started to swell and I was worried it was going to go into my throat."