A DAD-OF-TWO who nearly lost his life due to a heart problem is encouraging runners to take part in a race to raise funds for the hospital that saved him.

John Ashton, 60, suffered a tear in his aorta while driving in Oxford in 2007 and went on to spend more than seven hours in open heart surgery as surgeons fought to keep him alive.

Now, 10 years on, the former runner who had to leave his passion behind is encouraging people across the county to take on the Carterton 5 or 10k on April 16 to help raise funds for the heart centre in the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Because he is now unable to run, Mr Ashton will take on the 10k on his bike and is asking people to sponsor him to support the heart unit.

Mr Ashton, of Wootton, said he was driving his car in September 2007 when he felt a sudden pain in the back of his neck so intense he felt like he was going to pass out.

After going to see his GP he was admitted to the JR in Headington, where doctors initially believed he was suffering from a neurological problem.

In a stroke of luck, while waiting in a hospital bed a doctor asked Mr Ashton whether he had had his heart checked.

He said: “I was waiting there and slowly dying when this doctor asked me if I’d been checked with a stethoscope.

“After he checked me he told me I wasn’t leaving the bed I was in. I was rushed to cardiology. All my vital organs were placed on life support, my temperature was lowered to below freezing, and they patched it and stitched it.”

Mr Ashton had suffered an aortic dissection. His aorta, the heart’s main artery, had torn at the point it leaves the organ and had to be rebuilt by surgeons.

He continued: “I have asked so many surgeons why it happened and they tell me it was just extreme bad luck.

“Right from being a school kid I was a competing athlete. As a teenager I competed internationally. If I had been really unfit I probably wouldn’t be here.

"Now I need to be careful that my heart doesn't pump too quickly or it might blow the patch on the valve.”

Mr Ashton used to run with Witney Roadrunners before the aortic dissection. Now, to mark 10 years since the incident, he has joined forces with the running club and Better, which provides leisure facilities throughout West Oxfordshire, to support the heart centre at the JR through the Carterton 5 and 10k.

Each entry fee will see £2 go to the centre and even those not competing can support through crowdfunding pages.

Mr Ashton’s son Matthew, who is currently based in Dubai, is trying to gather friends together there to run on the same day to help fundraising efforts.

The event will take place on the morning of Sunday, April 16, starting and finishing at Carterton Leisure Centre.

For more information or to find an entry form go to bit.ly/2nDptnj. To sponsor Mr Ashton visit bit.ly/2nKwiQB