Julie Pitchford looks at the shock horror on the faces of the well-wishers in front of her and realises she has something to prove.

Broken, held together with screws and pins, unable to speak properly and looking as though she may topple over, she knows what they all see.

But this only gives her the strength and determination to push past people's pity. "I'm going to run the London Marathon," she smiles.

This was 28 years ago. She had just been discharged from hospital in Gibraltar after a crash in Spain which had almost killed her.

It took her a year to walk - she still suffers pain at times now - but in October she'll finally prove any doubters wrong by running the London Marathon.

She admits, though, she's lucky to be alive. She was just 28 when a car ploughed into her boyfriend's motorbike, on which she was riding pillion, smashing into her legs and catapulting her down a dual carriageway.

Her body was broken with multiple injuries and she was slipping in and out of a coma for weeks. Her devastated family from Ramgate rushed to be by her bedside.

She had gone to Gibraltar on a six-month work contract but instead spent a year trying to walk again, getting her speech back and building up her strength.

"I was totally smashed to pieces," says the 55-year-old, who lives in Ramsgate.

"I'd literally two days before the crash bought a brand new helmet - otherwise I wouldn't be here to tell the story.

"I had swelling on the brain. I couldn't even hold a conversation and I had no memory at all. I'd look at my mum and think it was my grandmother. I'd ask 'what time is dinner?' when I'd just had dinner.

"I was totally mixed up and confused. I didn't know where I was, all I could see were people with shaved heads and scars walking past.

"I didn't speak too much Spanish and I didn't have any memory of the accident; I didn't know why I was there."

Fortunately, except for some speech difficulties, she recovered from her head injury and was moved from the hospital she was in to one in Gibraltar where she was living at the time.

This was where the work to get her walking and moving started.

The top part of her was broken on the left arm and shoulder, and the bottom half on the right leg. Every rib was broken and she struggled to even get out of a chair.

All alone after her family had to return to England, she also lost weight due to the stress.

"The hospital physio said because I had a multitude of injuries they couldn't concentrate on one thing as I'd be too worn out to do the others and so I used a pool," she said.

"Without the pool I wouldn't be where I am today. You're weightless, you can move your joints without putting weight on them."

It was the moment she was discharged from hospital, though, which became the catalyst to run the marathon.

"When I got out of the hospital, hobbling around, and saw people for the first time, I kept thinking 'why are they looking at me like that?'.

"I didn't realise at first how poor my language was and how bad I looked physically.

"I couldn't even hold bags because my arms and shoulder were so smashed. I can't explain the way I looked, it was like I was going to topple over at any point.

"When everyone was looking at me with that shock horror when I was discharged, I smiled and said 'I'm going to run the London Marathon'.

"I'd always been a very independent person, but they looked at me like I was finished, like I was never going to walk properly again. That's when I decided that I would do it."

And finally, after many attempts to get a place, she will be running at this year's event on October 2.

"That day - my day - is here," she said.

"To get into the London Marathon this year was through a club I belong to called the Coastal Striders. They said 'we want to give you this place, you deserve it'."

Julie, who lived in Gibraltar for 20 years working in property before moving back to Ramsgate 11 years ago, has run a few marathons before but says this year will mean more to her.

She is running for charity MQ Mental Health Research, due to her interest in the brain and its behaviours, something which was sparked through her accident and led to her studying psychology.

The organisation funds leading scientists who develop groundbreaking research projects to help better understand, diagnose and treat mental illness.

Julie, who hopes to raise £500 through the marathon, says she still suffers some problems with her body but works hard to keep her joints moving.

"As soon as I get tired or run-down my legs start hurting," she admits.

"If I run across fields or unsteady ground then my right ankle swells up badly. I still swim five times a week, though. That's what fixed me at the start and it helps me keep all my joints moving.

"If I sat down in a chair and didn't move at all, I'd be like an old lady - they would seize up again."

She says she'll never let her injuries get in her way and she can't wait for the London Marathon to come around.

"It'll be such a great experience," she said.

"I'll probably cry in the second half because it's been an emotional rollercoaster to finally be there. It's almost like the end of the story.

"That crash in a way made me who I am. It's made me stronger."

To get behind Julie's fundraising efforts go to bit.ly/397SwbA