Johnston couldn't believe they had just won their third world title of the competition, feeling absolutely elated. Flashbacks of her journey flooded her mind, recalling the challenges she had faced since a life-changing incident left her blind in 2017. She remembered learning how to sit up again, walk again, and adapt to a life without vision. In that moment, everything felt worth it.

At just 19 years old and starting her second year at university, Johnston contracted a rare form of E. coli from suspected food poisoning. This serious illness led to multiple organ failure, collapsed lungs, and heart failure in a very short period. 

She was placed in a medically induced coma for eight weeks, leaving her with no recollection of the events that transpired, only what her parents and medical staff had shared with her afterward. Doctors informed her parents on several occasions that she might not survive, requiring them to say goodbye multiple times. Thankfully, she pulled through.

Upon waking, Johnston discovered that she had completely lost her eyesight. She told The Metro in an exclusive interview, “To be honest, I don’t really remember waking up.” The loss of her sight was a shock, especially since the doctors had focused on keeping her alive, never fully considering the possibility of her going blind. She also faced extreme weakness, unable to sit up or walk, and had to start from scratch. 

“Life as I knew it had ended,” she reflected. Before the incident, Johnston had been a passionate horse enthusiast, spending weekends at the stables and planning for horses to be part of her future. Now, she faced the grim reality of not being able to walk or see, leading her to believe she would never ride again.

Coming to terms with her sight loss took time. Johnston, who valued her independence, found it frustrating to require help with even the simplest tasks. However, she recognized she had two choices: to wallow in self-pity or to strive for achievements she never would have considered possible even with her eyesight. She chose the latter, turning to sport as a source of motivation and recovery. “In a cliched way, it saved me,” she stated.

While in the care of doctors and nurses at UCLH and St. Bart's Hospital, Johnston was given an unexpected gift to help lift her spirits. “They somehow got a horse up to the 13th floor in the goods lift and brought him to me in one of the rooms,” she recalled to The Metro. The experience was surreal, and the reaction of a patient who encountered the horse in the lift was priceless. “It brought so much joy and felt like a bit of home,” Jordan added.

Despite her initial assumption that she would never ride again, Johnston realized she was wrong. “I’d lost my sight, but not the skill,” she affirmed. Driven by her desire to get back on a horse, she returned to riding with the same horse she had always ridden. Although it felt scary and different, she believed that good horse riding relies more on feel than sight. She quickly adapted and even began participating in various para-equestrian disciplines, including dressage and showjumping.

After getting back into horse riding, Johnston was ready to tackle her next challenge. Her first feat was completing a parkrun in September 2018, the same year she learned to walk again. With her dad guiding her by holding her elbow, she found it incredibly difficult and ended up throwing up afterward. Yet, each step of her journey showcased her resilience and determination to overcome adversity, leading to her triumphant moment at the Para-Cycling Track World Championships.