A man is fighting for his life after being crushed under the wheels of his own car.

Simon Rewell, 41, of Manor Hill, Brighton, leapt behind his Ford Mondeo as it started to roll down the steep hill after he left the handbrake off.

But his attempt to stop the car failed as he tripped, was dragged under the cars wheels and down the road.

His brother Charles Rewell watched in horror as Simon was horrifically injured with broken ribs, a fractured pelvis and extensive internal injuries.

The car then collided into parked cars and another car heading up the hill, during the crash.

Mr Rewell's sister Evelyne Roberts said: “He got out to lock the car and realised he had left the handbrake off and the car started rolling.

“It went right over him and took him halfway down the road.

“He was trying to stop it coming up on the pavement and stop other people getting hurt.

“That's the sort of person Simon is. He doesn't think of himself, he's always thinking about someone else.

“Our brother Chaz was there too. He tried to help him, but there was nothing he could do. He passed out himself because of what he had seen.”

Paramedics took Mr Rewell to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Mr Rewell has been unconsious since the accident just before 5pm on Wednesday and is now in a coma in intensive care.

The 41-year-old far has received 17 blood transfusions in the past two days and doctors have told his family they will have to wait to see if he starts to recover on his own before anything else can be done to help him.

Mrs Roberts, of Eastbourne and sisters Janette Dyer, of Burgess Hill and Helen Gunn of Brighton, were last night anxiously awaiting further developments.

Mrs Roberts said: “He's the baby of the family.”

“When we first got to the hospital he was unrecognisable.

“The doctors say that every day he survives the better chance he has.

“But they just keep telling us he is so poorly.

“Every time the phone goes we all worry what it will be.

“It's nice that people are concerned, but the phone has been ringing all night and we need to ask people not to so we can get the phone in an emergency.”

Sgt Melanie Doyle of Sussex Police's Hove traffic unit said: “The man was working on the car on the hill and it rolled back on him.

“The car carried on rolling down the hill and collided with other parked cars.

“The man is seriously injured in the intensive care unit at Royal Sussex County Hospital.”