OLIVER Crouch was Highly Commended in the Pride of Somerset Youth Awards for overcoming a series of serious health issues.

In nominating the 15-year-old from Shepton Mallet, his mum said: “he has been through so much’.

When he first went to secondary school he got serious headaches which turned out to be caused by inter-cranial hypertension - a build up of fluid around the spine and brain and was told he could go blind. He underwent a lumber puncture to relieve the pressure.

Six months later he fell off his bike while doing his paper round and hit his head. Doctors found he had cracked his skull and had bruising on the brain. He has since followed doctors’ orders by losing weight to ease the pressure on his brain.

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