HE battled deadly meningitis as a baby.

But now young Alex McDade is making headlines again – as a champion karter.

The nine-year-old from Outlane has just won national honours in the sport.

And he makes no secret of his dreams – he wants to be the next Lewis Hamilton.

Alex, of Round Ings Road, only started karting in October 2010 and is celebrating his success with fellow drivers at the South Yorkshire Kart Club, where he is predicted to be the next big thing in the sport.

He’s already enjoyed two wins and two podium finishes in his age group, including a stunning one in a torrential downpour in Lincolnshire.

His parents, Adrian and Joanne, are delighted especially after his early traumas.

Alex contracted pneumococcal meningitis just three days before his first birthday in December 2002.

Mum Joanne said: “Alex became ill just before his first birthday. He had no rash, but an extremely high temperature, so we took him into the Royal Infirmary fearing the worst but they sent him home.

“When he got no better we took him back again and they diagnosed pneumococcal meningitis.

“We were told he only had a 50/50 chance of surviving the night. It was touch and go for a few days and he then spent a gruelling three weeks in hospital before he was finally allowed home”.

Alex, a pupil at Heathfield School, Rishworth, has been left permanently deaf in his left ear, but that has had no impact on his schoolwork nor his racing career, in which he is following his dad’s footsteps.