IN the coming weeks, Samantha Kinghorn will mark a significant milestone. On December 2 it will be five years since Kinghorn, 19, had the accident that saw her life jump the tracks and continue on an entirely different trajectory.

Then 14, the triple European champion wheelchair racer was helping her father, Neil, clear snow on the family farm near the Berwickshire village of Gordon.

Unbeknownst to Neil, his daughter had climbed onto the forklift out of his line of sight. He didn't see her and lowered the beam. Kinghorn was crushed underneath.

As she jumped off and tried to run, the teenager slipped and fell into the compacted snow. She knew instantly that her back was broken.

In that moment every single muscle tensed in unison, her toes curled and then slowly released. That was the last time that Kinghorn would feel her legs.

She was left paralysed from the waist down. Kinghorn spent six months at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, formerly the Southern General, in Glasgow after being told she would never walk again. But that wasn't the end of her story.

The inspiration to pursue a career in athletics came after watching the Inter Spinal Unit Games at Stoke Mandeville in 2011. Kinghorn has since racked up an impressive list of accolades, including holding seven Scottish records in the T53 class.

She made her 2014 Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow, finishing fifth in the final of the T54 1500m. Three weeks later, Kinghorn took a sweep of gold medals in the T53 100m, 400m and 800m at the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea.

Her most recent medal haul includes bronze in the T53 200m during her debut at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, last month. Kinghorn also set a new Scottish record of 1:54.67 over 800m – smashing her own personal best by two seconds.

If you imagine Kinghorn will be throwing herself a pity party come December 2, far from it. "I'm trying to look at something exciting to mark it," she muses. "I'm not sure what to do. I was thinking about a sky dive, but have probably left it a bit too late to book now."

Whizzing down a zip wire is another high-octane activity Kinghorn is considering and she is currently trying to coax her best friend Caris into joining her.

"Every year Caris, who was there on the day of my accident, comes round to mine and we have a sleepover," she says. "It was tough for my dad the first few years when I was celebrating it."

Kinghorn pauses. "Well, not celebrating it as such, but remembering and marking what happened that day because it changed my whole life. Honestly, yes, I would love to walk again, but the things I have got out of this are pretty amazing."

Her only regret is the guilt that her father still feels over what happened. Kinghorn, though, lays full blame for the accident firmly at her own door.

"Those feelings are probably always going to be there even though it is not his fault at all – what happened was completely my fault," says Kinghorn.

"I do think my sport helps," she adds, recalling seeing the tears of pride pricking her father's eyes during her triumph in Doha. "My dad was crying as soon as I crossed the line. He is starting to see it in a different light now."

Kinghorn – one of the Sunday Herald's Six To Follow to Rio 2016 – professes to still be pinching herself at making the podium on her world debut in Doha. "It's surreal," she admits. "After qualification, when it looked like there was a chance I would get a medal, it did feel quite scary. I'm really happy with how it all went."

With her trademark tenacity, Kinghorn rose to the occasion. She raced solidly over seven days. In addition to bronze in the 200m, Kinghorn also finished fifth in the 100m, sixth over 400m and seventh in the 800m.

"It was getting pretty tough by the end," she says. "I had the 800m last – the longest race – but that wasn't too bad. The hardest was probably having the heats and finals on the same day as happened with the 400m. That was also the most humid day."

Kinghorn credits the heat chamber sessions that she did in preparation ahead of flying out to Qatar as helping her cope with the searing temperatures and challenging conditions.

That said, there was still a steep learning curve. "The call room was air conditioned so when you went out into the humidity your push rims became wet," she says. "I didn't know that in my first race and my hands did slip going round the corners. I learned from it. Every race after that I had a towel to dry them off."

Kinghorn enjoyed rubbing shoulders with Commonwealth Games champion and five-time Paralympic medallist Angie Ballard from Australia. Ballard, who was paralysed in a car accident aged seven, took gold in the T53 200m and 400m, as well as bronze in the 800m.

"Angie is an inspiration because she has achieved so much in the sport," says Kinghorn. "It is still a bit weird lining up next to her in a race. I also got to be on the podium with her which was nice. We chatted in the call room beforehand too."

This weekend will see Kinghorn enjoy some rare days off to catch up with family and friends before her winter training begins in earnest. Over the coming months, the lion's share of her time will be spent on specially-built rollers in the family garage or out on the track at Tweedbank Sports Complex in Galashiels.

Kinghorn, who is coached by Ian Mirfin of the Red Star Athletics Club in Glasgow, says she is unlikely to begin racing again until at least late spring. The 2016 Paralympic Games next September remains her main target. "Rio isn't until September so we need to make sure I don't start too early," she says. "That timing is important."

Kinghorn has already gained the Paralympic qualification standard in each of her distances. "I will need to do them all again at least once next year and show some improvement, but it is nice knowing I have done the times," she says. "My parents are going to book their tickets for Rio soon, so I need to keep training hard and make sure I get there."

You can follow Samantha Kinghorn on Twitter at @Sam_Kinghorn