MARATHON man Jason Bushnell will finally run the Athens marathon, after a horror football injury stopped him from taking part two years ago.

In 2017, Jason Bushnell, 35 and from Poundbury, was preparing to run the Athens marathon for Dorset-based charity Julia’s House but he never made it.

Two weeks before the race Jason was playing Sunday league football for a team of local veterans. He said that, during the game, a freak accident caused him to suffer a horror injury which completely shattered his right kneecap.

This meant Jason had to cancel his trip to Athens but, after two operations to wire his knee back together and months of hydrotherapy and physiotherapy at Dorset County Hospital, Jason is now determined to finish what he started by running the marathon on November 10 for Julia’s House.

“The doctors told me that I wouldn’t be able to run a marathon two years after such an injury,” said Jason, “but that was just the red flag to the bull.

“I’m back and more determined than ever to succeed in raising that money for Julia’s House that I was going to do two years ago, whilst also showing the physio team and myself that it is indeed possible that you can run a marathon just two years on from such a setback.”

Dorset-based charity Julia’s House provides practical and emotional support to help families with life-limited children.

Jason said he has visited the charity’s children’s hospice on numerous occasions and that, being a father of two young daughters himself, it had a huge impact on him and inspired him throughout his rehabilitation.

He said: “My two years of recovery is nothing though compared to what families go through alongside children with life limiting illnesses and that is why I am more determined than ever to not only show that you can recover from bad injuries such as this and achieve the goals you set out in the first incidence, but also raise a shed load of money at the same time to help support children and families who are going through far worse times on a daily basis.”

Jason has set himself a target of raising £1,000 for the charity and hopes that he can finish what he started two years ago.

He said: “It’s been a long road to here but I feel like this is the closing of a chapter in a book.”

To donate to Jason's cause, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jasontoathens