A HALESOWEN teenager is lucky to be alive after getting treatment for indigestion only to discover he had a cyst the size of a grapefruit crushing his heart.

Daniel Tamburro was stunned when medics told him the 300g growth had forced his heart to move 3cm to the right side of his chest.

Doctors told him if they had not found the benign cyst it could have caused his heart to explode.

The 19-year-old production assistant initially believed he was suffering from chronic heart burn but was rushed to hospital after collapsing at work.

Doctors performed an X-ray which revealed a large shadow on his left lung but medics were stunned when a CT scan revealed a grapefruit-sized cyst pressing against his heart.

Recounting the fateful day in May Daniel said: “I was just at work and sat down but every time I breathed in it hurt. It was like indigestion.

"The boss said go to hospital to get it checked. I expected to be back by lunch but ended up being off for three months.”

He added: "I was in theatre for six hours in the end. They cut me open from the back and they had to cracked a few ribs.

"They managed to cut it out and reconnect a vein that it was connected to.”

Luckily, Daniel was planning to go on holiday at the end of June and doctors said if they had not operated the cyst could have killed him.

He added: "Doctors said if I had gone on holiday in a plane like we were planning to in June, the pressure would've been too much and my heart would've exploded.

Now back at work Daniel has mixed feelings about his ordeal.

He said: "It was terrifying. I can't believe something so big was growing inside me and I didn't know anything about it but I feel very lucky to be here today, it's amazing my life was saved thanks to a bit of indigestion."