FOR four long months, he lay attached to a life support machine.
Rugby player Ian McLoughlin suffered appalling injuries when he was struck by a van on the Isle of Wight.
The sports fanatic's chances of recovery looked slim.
But slowly, with the help of medics at Southampton General Hospital, he fought back, and remarkably made a full recovery within two years.
The 30-year-old returned to the cardiothoracic intensive care unit to thank the team. Ian ran more than 20 miles on a treadmill in the hospital's entrance area to raise funds for the unit.
This weekend, Ian will go one step further and run the London Marathon, before taking part in the Isle of Wight Marathon in May.
He hopes to raise at least £5,000 for the cardiothoracic intensive care unit and the British Heart Foundation.
Ian, who now lives in Ealing, London remembers playing rugby in Sandown before the accident on February 15, 2003. At the General he underwent a seven-hour emergency operation before spending four months in a coma.
To sponsor Ian e-mail ianredhanded@yahoo.co.uk
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