A teenager struck down by a mystery infection was woken up from his coma to be told he needed an urgent heart transplant.
John Leiper has been fighting for his life in Newcastle's Freeman Hospital for two weeks, with his distraught family by his bedside.
Now doctors are trying to find him a new heart and save his life.
The 17-year-old's family say his heart simply isn't working properly, but the cause of the infection is still unknown, with medics branding him 'a mystery boy'.
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Ex-Heaton Manor pupil John, from Wallsend , was rushed to hospital a fortnight ago when he started coughing up blood.
He was on a machine which works his heart and lungs, buying priceless time for staff at the Newcastle hospital to try and find the cause - and a treatment.
Now, doctors have said the next step is a heart transplant - and put John on the urgent list for an organ.
His cousin Lauren Bruce said John had to be brought out of his coma briefly to sign the consent form.
"He was very upset, he didn't really understand what was going on," said Lauren.
"He was asking loads of random things like if his grandad was still alive, and getting quite upset.
"God knows what he was going through.
"They had to put him back to sleep later on that night because he was getting agitated."
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John's mum Lyndsey has not left the hospital's high dependency unit since her football-mad son was rushed in.
It was the second urgent admittance since October, when John's heart failed while he battled sepsis.
The family thought he had recovered until he started coughing up specks of blood earlier this month.
On Thursday, John had an operation to fit a heart pump, to keep him going until a suitable match is found.
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Lauren, 22, said: "Now we know the next step it's a bit more closure, knowing he's going to be on the road to recovery.
"But he's going to be in and out of hospital for the rest of his life to keep him going.
"It's pretty scary that he's only 17 and he's never going to have a normal life."
As John lies in hospital, Lauren - who has raised cash for many other people, including sick mum Tanya Davies - is now raising cash for her cousin.
She has already arranged a family fun day on June 30 at The Middle Club, and started an online fundraising page for John "to do whatever he wants to do" when he finally gets out of hospital.
Lyndsey said she and her parents, Theresa and Tony Bellerby, had been "so overwhelmed with the amount of support by everybody, not only close family and friends but the whole community, people who don't even know John personally".
She added: "The messages, the private prayers and the get well wishes have been incredible. We can't thank everybody enough for the much needed support."
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