MIRACLE man John Howe owes his life to St John's Ambulance – and now he is repaying the debt.Mr Howe, of Tuddenham Lane, Rushmere, "died" seven times after collapsing at a stock car racing track in November 1996.

MIRACLE man John Howe owes his life to St John's Ambulance – and now he is repaying the debt.

Mr Howe, of Tuddenham Lane, Rushmere, "died" seven times after collapsing at a stock car racing track in November 1996.

Valiant St John's Ambulance volunteers kept him alive for more than half an hour while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

They had to restart his heart five times in the process. Miraculous Mr Howe was then saved twice more in hospital.

He said: "I owe my life to St John's Ambulance so I thought I would try and do something for them.

"I got involved with three women who I know who raise a lot of money for charity.

"I'd already helped them out by holding the charity buckets at a few events, but I wanted to do a bit more."

Mr Howe put up a £300 holiday voucher for a charity draw which went a long way to the overall total of about £1,300.

Maureen Boreham, of Swansea Avenue, Maidenhall, said that figure put her charity raising tally up near the £7,000.

Together with pals Janet Dunnett and Sally Pope she organises two dinner, dance and disco events every year.

The next do is scheduled for March 22 to raise money for testicular cancer.

Mrs Boreham said: "We enjoy it and we make sure the people coming along have a good time.

"It's something to put back into the community and it's nice for people to know that all the money we raise stays in Ipswich."