HIS mum feared he would never play guitar again, but Alex Polywka has taken to the stage despite his battle with an inoperable brain tumour.

The 17-year-old was left paralysed down the left side of his body after undergoing four hours of surgery to stop bleeding in his brain in February.

The paralysis meant the teenager had to learn how to walk and play his bass guitar again.

Last week Alex was back on bass duties with jazz quintet The Quaking Ducks as part of a gig the band scooped for winning the 2010 Oxford Jazz Festival.

Alex, who also plays bass in rock band Gibraltar, said: “As soon as I was feeling better again, playing guitar was the main thing I wanted to do.

“Being on stage is the best feeling you can possibly have.

“The main thing is the energy you get from each other in the band and the atmosphere from the audience.”

He said: “The doctors told me I’m doing very well and to keep going as normal. I’m trying to get on with things as much as I can and taking everything as it comes.”

Mum Susan, 46, said her son’s guitar playing had been the best physiotherapy for re-training his left-hand.

Mrs Polywka, of Norman Avenue, Abingdon, said: “The guitar’s been nothing but a very positive thing.

“When he couldn’t move his left side at all and had no dexterity in his fingers, it was like intensive physio.

“I was worried that he might not be able to play again and that would be the loss of something he loved.

“But in fact it turned round into something that helped him get that manual dexterity back.

“He loves his bass guitar and in the bad times it’s given him something to focus on.

“This certainly makes you appreciate things. You try not to take things for granted and a special night like this becomes extremely special.

“You just cherish that and whatever else might come.”

The December 29 show capped a dramatic year for the Magdalen College School AS-Level pupil.

He scored five A*s and two As in his GCSEs, despite taking the exams just a fortnight after undergoing chemotherapy.

Recent test results show the cysts on the brain tumour have been significantly reduced and the growth of the tumour itself has been stopped by treatment.

Although Alex has no further treatment scheduled in 2011 he will continue to have monthly tests to monitor the tumour.

The Quaking Ducks played two half-hour sets in the upstairs jazz room at the Big Bang restaurant in Walton Street, Jericho.

The five-piece played covers of jazz classics, as well as pieces by jazz legends Tom Scott and Herbie Hancock.