Alaster Osborne, 22, of The Fridays, East Dean, was left with a hole in the left temple lobe of his brain after he was starved of oxygen.
He spent two weeks in intensive care as worried parents Mark and Lisa stayed by his bedside.
After eight weeks in hospital, he made a full recovery but was diagnosed with epilepsy and suffered his first seizure aged two.
At the age of 17, he had five fits in one day but his condition is now finally under control.
The keen cyclist is gearing up for a mammoth bike ride from London to Geneva in a bid to raise more than £10,000 for the Sussex Air Ambulance.
He said, "I'm very lucky in all fairness because a lot of people who have suffered with similar problems have not made such a recovery.
"It has affected me but not in a physical way, more so my memory and speech.
"My dad wanted to call me Alastair but because I almost died when I was born, my parents called me Alaster as in A laster."
Alaster will also be running the first-ever Brighton Marathon on April 18 to boost funds for the life-saving charity which needs £1.7m every year to stay airborne.
The former Chyngton primary and Seaford Head pupil is unable to drive because of his epilepsy so he cycles the 20-mile round trip to and from work each day.
At weekends, he regularly cycles a further 50 miles on his £3,800 Trek Madone racing bike – the same model used by Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France last year.
Alaster has also been training for his epic 1,100 mile ride by running 17 kilometres a day.
He said, "I was watching TV when I saw the great work that the helicopter does in saving people's lives. I'm really amazed at what they do.
"I do so much cycling that I thought it made sense to do it for charity. I started running because I thought it would improve my fitness.
"I'm confident I can do the Geneva ride because I started off doing the London to Brighton bike ride and I found that easy.
"My medical condition has made me think even more about how important it is to have a helicopter emergency medical service."
Riders taking part in the nine-day trip to Geneva will cycle through France and take in the medieval Burgundy town of Sens and the spa town of Lons-le-Saunier.
They will then tackle the 1,232-metre-high Col de la Faucille featured in the Tour de France.
Alaster, a factory worker for Aspen Pumps in Hailsham, has also signed up to become a fundraising volunteer for the Sussex Air Ambulance.
He is hoping to raise his £2,500 sponsorship money by holding a car boot sale and dog show near the Tiger Inn in East Dean in April.
To sponsor him visit www.justgiving.com/Aliosborne.