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Lucky to survive bucking horse

17/ 7/2008

A VETERAN runner is lucky to be alive after being kicked in the head by a horse.

David Telford suffered a series of horrific injuries when a stray horse bucked and kicked out at him while he was running with friends.

As a result of the incident Mr Telford – who lives on Hurstville Road in Chorlton with his wife Bernadette – is now deaf in his right ear and has a fracture in his lower jaw. He suffered a complete break in his top jaw, and has lost a number of teeth.

Paramedics and doctors originally thought that Mr Telford was suffering from internal bleeding in his head as blood was coming out of his ear. However, following scans it emerged that part of Mr Telford’s jaw bone had snapped off and punctured his ear drum, causing it to bleed.

Doctors have now told the 60-year-old that he faces up to 12 months of treatment and numerous visits to hospital in order to correct his injuries.

Mr Telford – who has been a runner since he was 16 and is currently a runner with Altrincham Athletic Club – said he has been left in ‘agony’ as a result of the incident, which took place while he was running along a public footpath Stretford.

Mr Telford, who works as an engineer, is now unable to eat properly due to the break in his jaw and has lost a stone in just three weeks.

He said: "I was with my fellow runners and we all saw the horses in the field next to us as we were running by. We had seen them before, but we had never had any trouble with them in the past.

"One of our runners shimmied past the horses and as I did the same one of the horses reacted and kicked out at me.

"Before I knew it I was up in the air and had landed really badly on the ground. I knew that my chin was pouring with blood and that a number of my teeth had broken as there were bits of teeth in my mouth. My arm was absolutely killing at the time and it wasn’t until three or four days later that I found out what the pain was as it turned black with bruising. I’m lucky to have survived all of this."

However, Mr Telford, who has three grown up children and four grandchildren, is already back on the running circuit and plans to throw a birthday bash to celebrate his recent 60th birthday.

He said: "I’m back running again as it’s what I love."