AN inspirational brain injury victim has raised thousands of pounds to support the city's homeless by completing yet another gruelling challenge.

James Bastin has now completed a trio of exhausting treks over the past three years raising thousands of pounds for good causes.

When he was 19 the North Oxford man was hit by a taxi when crossing Woodstock Road outside Browns restaurant.

He has since regained many brain functions, defying doctors' predictions, and has taken to using his time to raise money for others.

Last month the 32-year-old completed the treacherous 97-mile West Highlands Way walk in Scotland.

He said: "It was very difficult, I wouldn't say it was my toughest challenge yet but there were very difficult moments.

"The most difficult day was the Wednesday, it was more crawling than walking as the terrain was so bad.

"Thankfully my mum met us at the end of the walk, that was a big support for me, and family and friends donated too."

Before the accident, Mr Bastin, who grew up in Wolvercote, was a gifted foreign language speaker, played a number of sports and was a talented guitar player.

Despite his remarkable recovery he still has difficulty with everyday tasks such a cooking, cleaning and writing and is partially sighted.

He is unable to work and instead embarks on challenges to raise money.

He said: "It's a good thing to do and a good use of my time, I want to raise money for others.

"I chose to support homeless people in Oxford for this challenge and I'm happy to have raised £3,000."

It took him – along with support worker Johnathan Watson – seven days to navigate the notorious stretch from Milngavie in the north of Glasgow to Fort William in the Highlands.

Mr Watson said his family and friends were proud and that Mr Bastin was an 'inspiration'.

He said: "James was a machine throughout the entire journey and never thought about giving up once even though it was at times extremely challenging and difficult.

"He is very fast when the ground conditions are flat but when they become rocky he has to slow down a lot due to not being able to see the ground conditions.

"Saying that we took the hardest routes when ever there was a choice and although we were slower than most able bodied walkers, we walked the entire route and finished it with sore feet and big smiles."

He also revealed that while Mr Bastin would be taking a break from charity running to tackle the Oxford Half Marathon for fun in October, the pair had begun talking about walking the 260-mile Pennine Way in the future.