A BRAVE student battling leukaemia has shown his family how to "crack on with life".

Fraser Peebles, of Creech St Michael, was just 16 when he was diagnosed with the illness during a pre-op to have a tumour removed early last year.

Now aged 18, he has undergone several rounds of painful chemotherapy treatment that will last for another two years and have left him very weak.

His mum, Abbey Peebles, said he is now picking up and his prognosis is good.

"He's been very poorly and had a really rough time," said Mrs Peebles, an ambulance worker.

"It fatigues him very quickly, although he's now getting back to some kind of normality.

"It's really hard for him seeing his peer group working, driving and socialising. He's 18, but he can't even have a beer with his mates. There are so many things he'd like to be able to do but can't.

"He's at a really important time of his life when he should be finding his independence and discovering the world, but at the moment he can't even leave the country."

Fraser, who attends Bridgwater and Taunton College, in Taunton, and who is a part-time wheelchair user, has been treated at Bristol Children's Hospital, Southmead Hospital, in Bristol, and Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton.

"He's a remarkable young man and he's led the way for the rest of us," said Mrs Peebles.

"He's shown us how to crack on with life. He's taken it all on the chin and is very pragmatic about it all.

"He did say when he was first diagnosed, 'You don't expect your 16-year-old son to ask, Am I going to die? I told him I couldn't make any promises, but we'd do everything we could to get him through it."

She said she is grateful for the incredible care Fraser has received from medical professionals and family and friends who have helped raise more than £15,000 for children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent, which has supported Fraser's family, through a number of sponsored events.

Last weekend 'Fraser's Fabulous Foot Soldiers' team of 18 supporters - including his mum, dad Graham and brother Alistair, aged 14 - took part in the 50km Thames Path Challenge, in London.

Other fundraising has included coffee mornings, a quiz night, bingo sessions run by a Slimming World group.

Mrs Peebles said: "So many different people have been coming forward - it just blows you away.

"There are so many people to thank. I just want them to know how grateful we are."