A MAN who fell from a horse as a child is tackling a six-day ultra marathon to raise money for the charity which came to his aid.

Jordan Johnson was only nine years old when he was riding his pony in Aydon, Corbridge, on Boxing Day, in 2002.

His pony was startled by another horse which got out of control, and Jordan ended up tangled under the reins.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) flew to the scene and airlifted Jordan, who had a fractured hip, to hospital.

He said: “I remember it being very frightening because I had never had to go to hospital before. I’ve always been a keen runner so I was eager to get back to it, and ever since I recovered I’ve completed several marathons, such as Ironman in France, the Cannes to Nice marathon and the Miami marathon.”

The 26-year-old, who is from Horsley, Northumberland, but currently lives in Miami, has now signed up to take part in the Marathon des Sables, which is regarded as “the toughest foot race on Earth”.

The six-day 251km ultra marathon is approximately the distance of six regular marathons and takes place in southern Morocco, in the Sahara Desert.

He has set himself the target of £3,255 – the average cost of a call-out attended by GNAAS. He said: “Because of them, I am able to run the race of a lifetime and hopefully my fund-raising will help others in the future.”