A TEENAGER who took the momentous decision to have a leg amputated during a critical year at school has refused to let it slow him down.

Already he has completed a mammoth cycle ride in Europe – and now he’s taken up snow-boarding.

Monty Merchie is about to take his A-levels at Ripon Grammar School this summer - and is then looking forward to taking a gap year that will include working for a ski season and travelling in South America.

The 18-year-old made headlines two years ago when he took his GCSEs while still recovering from the amputation.

But in the summer after losing his leg the keen cyclist rode 250km around France in the summer after losing his leg and then took up running.

He started snowboarding last year and said: “I suppose what happened to my leg makes me a bit more reckless.

“Coming down slopes really fast and flying is great fun, I really enjoy it.”

Monty, who lives near Boroughbridge, is planning to read Arabic and Spanish at university after his gap year. He spent his early childhood in Venice and already speaks fluent Italian, and his father is French.

"I didn't want to go straight to university because I wanted to travel and do other things that I might not get the chance to do after university," he said.

Monty was born with a congenital malformation in the bones in his left leg and endured 25 operations, including having the malformation removed.

However the surgery was not entirely successful and he still had to walk with crutches for ten years.

And six months before his GCSEs, after infection had gone through more bone, he decided to have the leg amputated and replaced with a prosthetic.

"It was quite an easy decision to make in the end. I was just ready to get on with life," he said, after gaining ten GCSEs including two A*s and three A grades.

He is about to take A-levels in maths, Spanish and French, and also plays piano and guitar.

Headmaster Martin Pearman paid tribute to the teenager's achievements and said: "Monty is a very special young man, courageous, determined and truly inspirational.

“He is proof that, with the right mindset, it is possible to overcome really tough challenges in life. Now there's just no stopping him."