A TEENAGER struck down with constant dizzy spells weeks before his crucial GCSE exams is facing an uncertain future.

Alex Howard, 16, started feeling dizzy as he came to the end of a course of antibiotics to treat a throat infection just before the Easter school holidays.

And at the start of April he collapsed at home with his younger brother Matt, 11, while their mother Nicky was out.

Now, several weeks later, the Green-down Community School pupil can only walk with a Zimmer frame and has not been back to the classroom since the end of March.

Nicky said: "Matt phoned me and said Alex was on the floor, unconscious, and couldn't move, so I told Matt to put him in the recovery position and I rushed home.

"When I got there, he couldn't lift his leg or even squeeze my hand."

Alex was taken by ambulance to the Great Western Hospital and admitted to the children's ward where he underwent an MRI scan and was examined by ear, nose and throat specialists.

None of the tests carried out found a cause for the dizziness and sickness that Alex had been experiencing and three days later he was discharged.

"I wasn't very happy about that," said Nicky, of Pendennis Road, Freshbrook.

"He was clinging to walls and could barely walk to the car.

"Then, on Easter Sunday he went to his room not feeling well, and beeped me on my mobile - that was all he could do.

"He faded before me, and couldn't even get a tablet into his mouth as he kept hitting his cheek."

Nicky, 45, rushed her son back to hospital once more and again he was admitted, but no further tests were carried out.

Physiotherapists and occupational therapists saw 6ft 4ins Alex during his week-long stay, and he was sent home the following Saturday with a Zimmer frame and a raised toilet seat, and was told he could go back to school for the new term on April 16 - the day of his 16th birthday.

"He was in no fit state to go back though," said Nicky.

Eventually the family had to pay £30 for a sick note from their GP, stating that although no specific condition had been diagnosed Alex could collapse at any time.

Alex has been missing out on vital revision sessions ahead of his GCSEs, and Nicky says that her son may now face an extra year at school before being able to fulfil his ambition of studying A-levels at Reading Academy before moving on to the town's university.

"He was concerned about the exams, but now that a letter has gone into school proving that he's not well he is more relaxed about it," said Nicky, who works at home as a child minder.

"I don't think his friends realise quite how bad it is for Alex. It's not like he's got a broken leg in a cast or something that can be seen.

"It's obviously restrictive for him, but it is for me and Matt too.

"I have to get a babysitter to come for my 16-year-old as I can't leave him here alone at the moment."

As well as his brother's and his own birthday celebrations being subdued, Alex cannot use his computer for study or entertainment for anything more than a short period, he cannot watch TV or play his clarinet, and he missed a church group trip to Alton Towers during the Bank Holiday weekend.

Nicky has contacted Greendown School to request revision materials for Alex, but nobody knows what will happen with his GCSEs.

Nicky and Alex are currently waiting to hear back from the hospital about a referral date to have further tests carried out to discover what is wrong with him.