COURAGE and determination in the face of adversity is evident this week, with news of a business fighting back from a fire and a 12-year-old boy who is playing Billy Elliot in the West End despite being born with a hole in his heart.

Thirteen months ago, Stephen Neccer, the owner of Pondworld Aquatics, in Wisbech, was left �devastated after a fire gutted his Lynn Road store.

The business had been his life for 20 years and he watched it go up in smoke after nearby wheelie bins were torched, with the fire spreading to the shop.

Sadly, those responsible may never be caught, even though two people were captured on CCTV �running away from the shop minutes before the fire took hold.

But rather than reflect on the prospect of nobody being brought to justice – and at a time when money is proving more of a luxury in difficult economic times – he spent in the region of �250,000 rebuilding the store and forgetting the past. Tomorrow, Pondworld is again �officially open for business.

Then there is Aaron Watson, from Terrington St Clement, who was born with a hole in his heart 12 years ago but is impressing audiences on the West End stage.

His pledge to donate his first pay cheque to Great Ormond Street Hospital in appreciation of the doctors and nurses who operated on him when he was a baby is an incredibly heartwarming gesture and admirable of someone so young.

We can all take inspiration from both these stories and the belief that any of us can achieve our dreams, even if it may sometimes seem an impossible battle.