An action-loving surfer, snowboarder and footballer has died aged 26 from the debilitating condition he refused to let hold him back.

Tributes have been paid to James Wilson who died earlier this month from cystic fibrosis.

Despite the life-long crippling disorder which causes the lungs, pancreas, liver and intestine to fill up with secretions, the former Cardinal Newman pupil travelled the world in pursuit of adventure.

Two years ago he defied doctors who put him on the Liverpool Care Pathway for dying patients with his brothers travelling from the US and New Zealand expecting to say a final goodbye.

The youngest of four brothers and one sister, James’ condition was diagnosed just months after his birth and left him in need of regular hospital treatment.

After leaving Cardinal Newman school in Brighton, he went to Australia to spend time with his brother Tim where he found a love for surfing and later he spent six months in New Zealand with another brother Alex.

In 2009 he went snowboarding in Switzerland despite medical advice about the impact on his health of altitude and had even made plans to fly to South Africa next year, despite warnings the plane ride could be fatal.

James, from Chesham Street in Brighton, also won a place to study history at Kings College in London and had managed to complete two years of study before his death.

After an eight-month spell in hospital two years ago, he was forced to adapt his life and turned to golf and, when that became too much, he took up gardening.

Last year he passed his driving test and drove to the south of France in a Mini Cooper.

Alex said: “He hated getting a disabled badge for his car, he didn’t want to be seen as disabled.

“We knew it was a life-limiting condition that most don’t live beyond 30.

“He didn’t like talking about his condition and he never got depressed about it.

“He was always pushing the limits of his health, it’s a difficult balance but eventually his body just got too tired.”

James died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, on November 13 with his brother Alex, sister Annabelle and mother Elizabeth Ansell by his bedside.

His funeral will be held on Friday at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Rottingdean. A fundraising page for the cystic Fibrosis Trust has been set up |in his memory. To donate visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JamesWilsonMemorialFund