A TEENAGER who nearly died from a brain haemorrhage is a step closer to fulfilling his ambition of becoming a teacher.

Ian Forster, 17, was paralysed down his left side after a brain haemorrhage in February 2002.

He said: "I went to bed with a bit of a headache. I woke up in the morning and couldn't move my left side."

Ian, of Rickleton, Washington, Wearside, underwent a lifesaving, six-hour operation, then spent three weeks in intensive care and five months on a hospital ward.

He said: "Some of the doctors said I might not be able to walk again, but I was walking a bit by the time I left the hospital.

"I still cannot move the fingers on my left hand or move my left foot."

Despite missing half a year of his education at Lord Lawson of Beamish School, in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, he went back, caught up and passed his GCSEs. Last Thursday, he celebrated four AS-level qualifications.

He achieved C grades in geography and IT, a D grade in history and an E in physics. He said: "I am most chuffed with my physics grade, I did not think I was going to pass.

"That was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, perhaps even harder than learning to walk again."

Ian, who lives with parents Charles and Ruth and brother Neil, 19, plans to re-sit his history exams while he studies A-levels in history, geography and IT.

After university, he hopes to become a history teacher.

His next big test will be at the end of this month, when he sits his driving theory test.