A BRAIN injury victim hopes he could give a lift to other people in his position after completing an Olympic-distance triathlon in under four hours.

At the age of 19, James Bastin was hit by a taxi when crossing Woodstock Road outside Browns restaurant.

He was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital and had to undergo seven brain operations over five months in 2004.

Since then, he has far surpassed the predictions of medical professions and regained many brain functions in a long and ongoing recovery process.

Earlier this week the 31-year-old completed an Olympic-distance triathlon in under four hours for brain injury support charity The Silverlining.

He said: "Everything was on my side and it went really well – the cycling was great and the weather was really mild for the run which helped me.

"It got a bit tough during the swim, my support worker Johnathan had to pick me up a bit and get me to go faster."

Mr Bastin said the impact of his injuries meant he wouldn't be able to have a normal job so he decided to use his time to raise money and awareness for charities.

He has already set his sights on his next challenge - walking the West Highland Way in Scotland.

But despite his heroic efforts for charity the North Oxford man didn't see himself as a role model for others with brain injuries.

He said: "I'm not so sure about being role model or an inspiration but if someone going through something similar is picked up a bit by what I have done then that's a good thing.

"It was a difficult challenge, the hardest I have done but it's great to have raised awareness and some money as well."

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

Despite his remarkable recovery, he still suffers from partial sight and has difficulty with day-to-day tasks such as cooking, cleaning and writing.

After walking 100 miles of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in northern Spain for cancer charity Maggie's Oxford Centre at the Churchill Hospital last year - he turned his attentions to an Olympic-length triathlon.

After six weeks rigorous training – in cycling, running and swimming – he recorded personal bests in all three on the day.

The first section of his triathlon saw him complete 100 laps of Horspath Athletics Track, covering 40km in a time of one hour and 42 minutes.

He then ran 10km through the city to the Ferry Leisure Centre in Summertown in one hour and five minutes – before completing a gruelling 1.5km swim – 60 lengths – in one hour and six minutes.

His support worker and trainer Johnathan Watson said: "We had initially set a target of four hours and 20 minutes and it we said anything under four hours would be fantastic.

"He has done amazingly well and raised more than £2,000 for The Silverlining in the process."