A TEENAGER has been told he can't pursue his dream career in the fire service -- because he could kill himself if he lifts any heavy objects.

David Knight, 16, underwent pioneering surgery eight days after he was born when surgeons discovered he was missing an artery in his heart, which also had a puncture.

Telling his mother Gillian they feared he would die, surgeons spent 13 hours plugging the hole in his heart with tissue from his calf, which was also also used to rebuild the artery.

Having undergone five operations since then, David had hoped he would be able to live a relatively normal life.

David, of Howarth Avenue, Church, has just finished school and had planned to follow a career in the fire service, until doctors told him he couldn't -- because lifting a heavy object could put too much strain on his heart and kill him. After he suffered several cardiac arrests, doctors pinpointed the problem to a strain on his heart when he lifted heavy objects. Any sudden hits to the chest would also have a similar effect, ruling out jobs in any of the emergency services.

Mum Gillian said: "They haven't just ruled out the fire service, they have ruled out all forms of manual work, including becoming a mechanic, which are the jobs he would be best suited to because he is dyslexic."

David, who went to Haslingden High School, said: "I have always wanted to go into the fire service but it was only when I recently found out I couldn't lift heavy objects that I realised that wasn't an option.

"I was gutted. I can't do anything I wanted to. It makes all the hard work to overcome my medical problems pointless."

Now Gillian hopes a local firm will give David the chance to prove himself and learn a trade, even if it is behind a desk.

She added: "When he was eight days old, I thought my baby was going to die. He has come through that, gone through five operations and has scars on his back to prove it.

"He has been dealt enough blows in his life and now we just hope someone will come forward and offer him the chance to make something of himself."