A TOUGH nine-year-old boy has returned to playing rugby just months after having surgery on a brain tumour the size of an orange that was discovered when his coach found a lump on his head.

Coach Jed Beety felt the lump when he gave Eddie Watson a pat on the head in encouragement after a game for a junior rugby league side.

Mr Beety alerted his mother, Sam Dawson, of Lowcliffe Walk, Heckmondwike, and Eddie was diagnosed with a brain tumour after having a scan.

It was discovered he had Langerhans' Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a cancer-like condition which affects one in 200,000 children. Around 50 children in the UK are diagnosed with the condition each year.

Within days, Eddie was operated on at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI).

A titanium plate was inserted into Eddie's head after the operation, in which part of his skull was removed.

It came after he had visited a doctor weeks earlier because Miss Dawson was worried about a lump on his head and the youngster was complaining of headaches.But the doctor said it was a cyst and it was nothing to worry about.

Now Eddie has resumed both training and playing with his rugby team-mates at Dewsbury Moor under-nines and played his first match last month. But he now has to wear a protective scrum cap when he is on the field.

The pupil at Windmill Primary School, Birstall, will have check-ups every three months for the next five years.

Miss Dawson, 40, who also has an older son, Tom, 15, said: "When I found out what it was I was shocked, extremely worried and devastated because you always think the worst.

"Jed did mention about the lump but I was already aware of it.

"We were told at first it was a cyst.

"I never knew anything could grow so quickly.

"Eddie hasn't been fazed by any of it.

"He is very cheeky, he's quite outgoing. He has a good character.

"He loves his rugby. He was really keen to get back. It's great seeing him back playing his rugby again and he's getting on great."

Mr Beety, 45, said Eddie had amazed his club-mates by making such a quick recovery and played down his own role in the discovery of the tumour.

He said: "It's remarkable he's back already.

"I just felt a lump on his head and told his mum. I didn't do anything really.

"He came back playing for us about two weeks ago. He is training well and playing his usual game.

"He is back to his old self again now too."