Former jockey Josh Moore is to run in this weekend’s London Marathon with sister Hayley 12 months after nearly losing his life.
Moore broke his leg, several ribs, suffered a punctured lung and damaged his lower back when the horse he was riding came down and fell on top of him at Haydock in April last year.
Then he developed a life-threatening infection, as a result of which he was sedated and put on a ventilator to help him breathe. He spent the next three months in hospital, returning home to West Sussex in July.
Moore, 31, completed the London Marathon before the fall which forced him to retire from the saddle.
This time he will be running despite having had screws inserted in his back and a rod in his leg while he was in hospital to raise money for Cancer Research UK. He is determined to finish the race.
"Everything's going well so far, good enough anyway. I'll be pleased when it's done!" he told the Racing Post. "I was just thinking about where I was this time last year and when I was a bit of a way from running a marathon.
"I saw the nurses who looked after me in Liverpool recently and they said they did not expect me to leave the hospital, let alone be running a marathon again."
The Moores' JustGiving page said: “It's a huge ask but as we all know, Josh likes a serious challenge! He‘s worked very hard and with several screws in his back, it will not be easy. Oh and the rod in his leg which helped to repair his broken femur and that's before the fat embolism syndrome which left Josh with temporary brain damage.
“Running for Cancer Research Uk will help us to take on the challenge of so many miles in much different circumstances than in the past. But as we have seen family and friends suffer from the cruel and dreaded cancer then we will do our best and would love your support.”
