A BASINGSTOKE teenager has spent nearly 18 months creating a “lasting legacy” after being told he may not have long left to live.

Ash Eves was diagnosed with a serious heart condition when he was born, which has resulted in him enduring four open heart surgeries, two operations through his groin and countless hospital visits and tests.

The 19-year-old, from Brighton Hill, was asked by Basingstoke College of Technology, where he is studying graphic design and photography, if he wanted to create a mural at the Autoplaza supermarket in Houndmills.

City Motor Holdings approached the college, looking for a student to decorate a bare wall at its Autoplaza garage, and BCoT put Ash forward because of his creative talents.

Ash said: “I know I have a limited life so I wanted to take this opportunity to leave a legacy. I need to take as many opportunities as I can and this is the best opportunity I have been given.”

When Ash was born, his family was told he had just hours to live, but he survived against the odds.

He was first treated for his condition, called Critical Aortic Stenosis, when he was just four-weeks-old.

Since then, the teenager has spent much of his life in hospital, but was given devastating news last year.

He said: “I was told last year that I don’t have that long left and to stop doing everything I have been doing. I haven’t been able to get down here as often as I want.”

Ash had to enlist the help of another student to finish the mural before the deadline of March 1.

He said: “It affects every aspect of my life. It stops my valves from working in my heart.

“A normal heart takes the blood in and pumps it back out, whereas mine stores dirty blood and doesn’t clean it.

“I get back-flow so some of the blood goes anti-clockwise. There’s huge stress on my heart.

“I have really bad tiredness. I’m not allowed to lift more than 20 kilos. I try and stick to it, but it’s quite a strict life.”

Despite Ash knowing that his life may be cut short, he still has hope for the future, and said: “I hope with the advances in technology that they will figure out a way to sustain me for a lot longer.”

During his last operation in 2012, Ash had a metal tube fitted in an artery, but he will need further surgery in the future.

Despite his struggles, Ash is focusing on the mural as a positive in his life, and said: “It’s a dream come true. I love what I do and to be able to do it on such a big area is fantastic.”

Ash was given free rein on the design and has incorporated a magical forest with the early stages of mankind going through to modern life.