EX-RAF fighter pilot Ian Ferguson is coming to Chorley to tell his incredible survival story.

Ian -- who claims he was just five seconds from death when he ejected from his crashing plane -- has been invited to town by Chorley's Chapel House Christian Fellowship.

Ian Ferguson's amazing story tells how he ejected from his plane at 600 mph on a routine flight over the Pennines -- risking paralysis or death.

He said: "I knew my ejection seat only guaranteed us survival under 350 miles per hour. But there was no choice. I ejected and was blasted out of the descending aircraft. My life was spared by under five seconds.

"I was in the air for only 15 seconds -- my first and only parachute jump! The worst thing was that when I landed my parachute never collapsed, and it dragged me, face down, across the rocks and snow.

"I was a Christian before the accident happened. I was not frightened or scared throughout the whole experience. It was just a miraculous escape."

And incredibly, 49-year-old Ian has no long-standing injuries from the disaster. "I went through no fear or shock and, subsequently, have had no repercussions from my accident.

"After all my years of struggling after a seemingly unreachable goal, I have come to realise that it is not just the academics -- the intellectual -- that is important.

"Neither is it how physically fit you are, or if your career is moving along as it should. What really counts is what is in the heart, and God is now the power and authority in my life."

Ian Moulton, the church's pastor, met Ian Ferguson at theology college in 1991, just after the Mr Ferguson, who flew for 19 years and is now a civilian flight simulator instructor, had left the RAF.

Mr Moulton said: "Ian travels round telling his story and he is also a preacher.

"In his story he talks about how his life was saved -- but also he found Jesus Christ as his saviour which was the real event which changed his life."

Ian Ferguson will give his talk -- 'Saved in the Nick of Time' -- at the Chapel House Christian Fellowship, Moor Road, Chorley, on Saturday, November 4, at 7pm. For more details phone (01772) 454820.