A FOUR-year-old boy who was born with a 5lb tumour and given a 50 per cent chance of survival will start at a mainstream school next week.

Alexander McRoberts' incredible story featured in The Gazette and national media 18 months after his birth, when he survived the removal of a second teratoma tumour from his spine in a 15-hour operation.

Now the plucky little boy, who is still going to need operations on his digestive system, has been accepted at St Mark's Primary School, in Danebury Road, Hatch Warren, Basingstoke.

His heart has stopped twice, he has been in intensive care five times and was once in a coma. At his birth, the tumour weighed more than he did and his doctors could only give him a 50 per cent chance of survival. Health experts later told his mum he would have to attend a special school.

His 39-year-old mum Fran, whose marriage broke down through the stresses of caring for Alexander, then fought her way through the application process and, with the support of Hampshire County Council, secured him a place at St Mark's.

She said: "He's full of beans, very strong and he has no fear. I haven't wrapped him in cotton wool but you wouldn't believe what he's been through to look at him."

Miss McRoberts, of Blunt Road, Beggarwood, Basingstoke, said there had been five years of weekly trips to Southampton General Hospital. She said: "There's been lots of ups and downs. I nearly lost him a couple of times, and I have had so many consultants tell me he's going to be paralysed or have brain damage. But Alex is just a normal little child who beat two tumours."

She explained that he had started to gain confidence after attending Beggarwood Lane day nursery Kiddi Caru.

She said: "He's registered disabled and he had no confidence, but the staff helped him and without their support I wouldn't even be looking at schools. So it's a happy story!"

Alexander's sister Amie, 13, attends Brighton Hill Community College.

Sue Galloway, headteacher at St Mark's, said: "There's no reason why he shouldn't be in a mainstream school with the right support."

She added that staff are currently planning how best to meet Alexander's needs, and the school will be hiring an extra member of staff.