AN east Cleveland teenager is lucky to be alive after he was hit by a rock, which left him with serious head injuries.

Ryan Brown, 14, from Willow Walk, Loftus, was playing with his friends in a stream between Loftus and Liverton Mines, known as The Culvert, on the afternoon of Monday, July 9, when a group of youths started throwing rocks at them from the top of a railway line.

Ryan was hit with such force that it fractured his skull and he needed emergency surgery at Middlesbrough General Hospital. He is now recovering at home, but his life is never going to be the same again.

His father, Gordon, said: "The operation has left him with a risk of fits, and he had a fit the day after the opera-tion.

"He is going to be on tablets for the next six months. He is not allowed to play outside - we have to keep him calm because of the risk of fits."

Ryan, who attends Rosecroft School, in Loftus, said he felt fine apart from recurring headaches.

Recalling the incident, he said he tried to climb the embankment after he was struck on the head. With blood streaming from the wound, he ran to a nearby house.

The occupant immediately gave him a lift home.

"I think I was panicking, but I don't know really. I was shocked.

"I'm not going to be able to do what I did before - I just want to be out with my mates," he said.

Just a few months ago, Ryan was hailed as a hero in Loftus when he found an elderly neighbour suffering from hypothermia while he was on his newspaper round.

Local beat bobby PC Antony Turner said: "We are anxious for people who may have witnessed this incident to come forward and contact the police.

"This incident shows how easy it is for someone to be injured by something as silly as mindless stone throwing."

Anyone with information is asked to call Loftus police on (01642) 302710.