In 1973, while studying for my engineering degree at Manchester University, I rented a studio flat in a house that belonged to a certain John Cardin. I stayed in that flat for 7 years during which time, John and I became good friends. I knew that John was a prominent solicitor and he represented famous 1970s clients such as Ken Dodd, George Best & Alex Higgins.
I always admired his beautiful Jaguar E-type V12 sports car. Then I realised that John was actually a racing driver. He raced against the likes of Jackie Stewart. However, his motor racing career ended following a high speed crash at Silverstone in a Lotus Elan. He then switched to horse racing as an owner, breeder and trainer. He rode in the Grand National five times between 1974 and 1982. I remember going to the bookies in 1977 –for the first and last time in my life- to place a bet on his horse, the man behind the counter laughed when I bet £1, for John’s horse was such an outsider at 500 to 1! So I thought I place another £1 bet on a name that I fancied ‘Red Rum’. This one actually won the race and I made £10 thanks to John!
John was also an accomplished musician, he played guitar, trumpet, and piano as well as bagpipes! John also prided himself on his fitness, running 10 marathons while in his forties and he set a National weightlifting record for his weight category.
John was a daredevil and lived life to the full. However, it was horse riding that was his love and undoing. He had a riding accident in 1993 that left him a ventilated tetraplegic. He had suffered a broken neck – similar to Superman actor Christopher Reeve’s injury, He became bed-bound and reliant on an iron lung to breathe. He, nonetheless continued to practise law using a ventilated wheelchair until his retirement in 2003. He passed away in 2010 aged 73.