Boy is inspiration for fundraising after brave battle against brain tumour

Five years and numerous operations on, Nasim's father Didar has launched a fundraising drive to raise money for the hospitals which saved his child's life – already raking in thousands of pounds. Following the success of his first event, Mr Ali today lifted the lid on the complications of his son's illness and the heartache it has caused his family.

Mr Ali said: "He had been sick for a few days and we had already taken him to the GP several times but they just told us to keep an eye on it.

"Then a few days later I was picking him up from school to take him to the doctor and he was playing basketball, he wanted to keep playing basketball. An older GP at our surgery said that something wasn't right. We went to Birmingham Children's Hospital and doctors checked him over but couldn't find anything.

"We were about to leave when one doctor said he should have a scan. They said straight away that it was a huge brain tumour and that it would be difficult to remove. It was like a bolt out of the blue."

But just as it seemed Nasim was out of the woods he experienced swelling on his brain that meant he had to go back under the knife to have a section of his skull removed and replaced with a metal plate.

The procedure was a success and his parents Didar and Ambia thought that their ordeal was all over, but a week after the operation Nasim suffered a stroke.

George Salter Academy pupil Nasim went on to receive radiotherapy at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital to ensure the tumour did not return.

Now 14-year-old Nasim's family, from West Bromwich, say his battle is the inspiration behind their fundraising efforts.

More than 120 people attended a charity buffet at their restaurant, Akush Balti in High Street West Bromwich, on Monday, helping to rake in £2,050 which they have donated to the two hospitals.