'Collapsed lung has not stopped me becoming a karate champion'

A schoolboy who had lung problems so severe while growing up that he had to be resuscitated on several occasions is now representing Scotland at karate.

Ben Cotter was taken into neonatal intensive care as soon as he was born, and then readmitted to hospital in a critical condition aged just four weeks old.

He was later diagnosed with bronchomalacia - a condition which means the airways are abnormally soft and prone to collapse. This meant his breathing could stop without warning, while a collapsed lung meant he had to be given oxygen regularly.

However the 15-year-old from Clydebank kept going with his sporting interests - including karate, which he took up when he was four.

Last year he won a bronze medal at the JSKA World Karate Championships in Matsuyama, Japan, while he recently was crowned British Kumite champion in London.

He told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast that growing up with a medical condition had "taught me a lot, it's shaped the person I am today" but that there was "no point in trying to hide away" from doing things because of it.

As well as karate he is also a keen rugby player - something that would have amazed doctors who treated him when he was born.

Ben recalled: "There was a point where doctors were worried about whether I would survive and whether it would affect things like learning, and walking. I felt like I was always wearing a hospital wrist band.

"Even when I started karate I remember being really tired because my left lung had to do most of the work, but it's just something that's always been part of my life."

Ben had to be resuscitated on several occasions by medical teams, and occasionally by his parents, due to his breathing abruptly stopping.

He was left with permanent damage as a result of a lung collapsing during his childhood.

However ,he became interested in karate because of his dad Nicholas, who took part in martial arts himself and is a fourth degree black belt. As soon as Ben had a go as a child, he became hooked.

His coach Mike McCusker told the BBC that Ben was quite frail when he started taking classes at the Hokushin Karate Academy in Glasgow.

However he added: "Ben kept turning up week after week and putting the hard work in.

"We had to keep an eye on how much work he could get through during the class, but it was easy to motivate him during the week. He just joined in with everyone else.

"He never looked for an excuse – he just got on with his work."

Ben, who hopes to work in medicine as his career, says one of his biggest highlights was winning bronze in Japan last year, representing Scotland and competing against scores of other teenagers from across the world.

He was also graded Shodan – first degree black belt - the day before the competition started.

He said: "I won my first two fights in the individual competition and then in the third one I got hit in the nose. There was blood everywhere, but you just keep going.

"I ended up losing that last fight to a Japanese competitor. But being at the world championships and taking home a bronze medal as a now black belt was incredible."

The teenager, who studies at Kelvinside Academy in the West End, is now hoping to compete at another international championship in Italy next year.

He told Radio Scotland Breakfast that he is "in the clear" with his condition and no longer needs to be given oxygen.