A football-mad youngster whose lungs collapsed last month has made an incredible recovery to score four penalties against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Harry McEvoy, from Hassocks, showed off his skills when the Seagulls took their practice to his school playing field.

The 13-year-old, a Year 8 pupil at Downlands Community School in Dale Avenue, Hassocks, took part in the training session and managed to get in four out of five penalties.

The Crystal Palace fan, who dreams of being a striker, has had five heart operations since birth.

The last was on March 15 this year. It was a success, but two days later he developed an infection and his lungs collapsed.

Dad John McEvoy said: "We very nearly lost him, but having been on a ventilator life support system for 48 hours he pulled through and has made a fantastic recovery."

Harry is rebuilding his strength and will go back in for a check-up on May 17 but it is hoped he will not need any more surgery. He stayed in hospital for a week after his lungs collapsed and returned to school after Easter.

Mr McEvoy, who accompanied Harry to meet the Albion, said his son was over the moon. He said: "He loves football, in fact it is all he ever talks about.

"He was buzzy and excited all morning. He loved it."

Three of Harry's operations were in the first six months of his life. Mr McEvoy said within 24 hours of his birth it became obvious there was something wrong and doctors discovered his main aorta artery had not developed, preventing blood flow to the body.

He was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he had a seven-hour operation to repair the artery. He lived in the hospital for the next six months and had two further operations.

At the age of 11 he had a hole in the heart repaired, an operation that needed to be redone this year because he has grown.

To show their support for Harry, his fellow Year 8 pupils decided to nominate Great Ormond Street as their charity for this year. They have already held a disco and will host a fashion show next month. (May) Pupils have been designing their own outfits and it is hoped that through all their events they could raise close to £1,000.

Steve Bartholomew, head of Year 8, and Mark Wignall, deputy head teacher, arranged for the Albion players to come in.

Mr Bartholomew said: "Harry's been through quite a lot recently so we thought as a school it would be nice to give him something back to show how proud we are of him. Harry had a fantastic time."

Harry said: "It was really good."

The players spent Thursday morning at the school.

Pat Davis, personal assistant to the headteacher, said: "He watched them train and they let him do a penalty shoot-out. It was just brilliant. They were all really friendly. It was a real boost for Harry. We wanted to say well done for being so brave and for pulling through."