A FATHER has spoken of the courage of his teenage son who died in an accident at his home in Ainsworth on Boxing Day.

David Lee Hargreaves, of Harley Avenue, was found drowned after suffering an epileptic fit in the bath.

The 14-year-old had suffered from epilepsy since birth, but his father Gary said his son had always put on a smile.

"David was a happy lad, always smiling. Despite his illness, he never let it get him down.

"He had suffered fits in the bath before but I always kept an eye on him. However, as he got older he wanted a bit more privacy. More recently I took to shouting up to him regularly as he bathed to make sure he was okay."

Mr Hargreaves had been to his local pub on Boxing Day to watch the football on television before returning home. It was while he was having a sleep in the lounge that David ran himself a bath.

"If I had gone home early, if I had not watched the football game, then perhaps this would not have happened," said Mr Hargreaves, who had single-handedly raised David for the last ten years since being divorced from his wife Sally.

David was discovered by his older brother Shane around 7pm, and despite the efforts of his father and paramedics, David was pronounced dead on arrival at Fairfield General Hospital.

The youngster, who attended Elms Bank School in Whitefield, was a big fan of Bury FC and loved playing football, computer games and painting. He spent most of Christmas Day using a painting set his father had bought him.

His condition meant that, as well as regularly using prescribed drugs, surgeons had fitted him with a special regulator linked to his nervous system that aided recovery when he suffered prolonged fits.

Due to the nature of David's death, an inquest is expected to be held in the near future. A date for his funeral has not yet been arranged.