A THRUXTON teenager who suffered a horrific accident leaving him with serious head injuries at the age of six has become the world’s third ranked T34 wheelchair racer in just one year of doing the sport.

Craig Boardman, who trains at Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre, this year competed in the World Championships Grand Prix Dubai and the World Junior Para Athletics Championships in Switzerland where he clinched three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 400m -

and set a senior European record time for the T34 100m at 15.25 seconds.

The 17-year-old lives in Thruxton with his mother and father, Kelly and David Boardman, and two older brothers, Adam and Dominic.

Eleven years ago, doctors believed Craig had zero chance of survival after he was trapped under the wheel of an army wagon in North Yorkshire, but even after his life support machine was turned off for a second time and his family said their goodbyes, the newly-acclaimed sporting champion made a miraculous recovery.

Craig’s first competitive race was the Westminster Mile in May 2016, which he returned to win again earlier this year, and he holds the British under 20s record for the mile with a time three minutes and 50 seconds.

Proud mother Kelly said: “He only started doing races last year and he already sits a number three in the world. He’s done very, very well for himself.

“We are quite an active family and needed something to get us out and about and sport is a way forward. We’re just really delighted with him and very proud as any parent would be.

“He’s going to be a big household name, Britain’s next top athlete - and that’s coming from Team GB themselves.”

Craig has three more competitions left for the season, including racing for the south of England in the School Games.

The teen hopes to gain entry to an Australian training camp in January 2018 to make it easier for him to gain sponsorship before heading back to Dubai to compete again next March.

Kelly said: “It’s hard to find sponsors, I send out 20 emails and I get three back!

“He is new to it so nobody has heard of him, but he’s exactly the same class and same rank as [Paralympic champion and world record holder] Hannah Cockroft.”