A young artist who touched the hearts of thousands of wellwishers after he was left paralysed by a freak illness, has lost his six-year battle for life.

Wayne Neilson died in his mother's arms in the special suite at the back of the family home in St Andrew's Road, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, which was built and equipped with the help of generous North-East fundraisers.

It meant everything to his parents, Alan and Jacqueline, and brothers Glenn and Karl, that the 31-year-old Newcastle United fan was at home when the day they had been dreading finally came.

Since October 1994, when he suffered a massive cardiac arrest brought on by a rare tonsillitis virus, they had known that a second heart attack could strike at any time.

Early in his illness, with Wayne locked in his body unable to speak or move, his family had turned for help to his last piece of work - a finely crafted drawing of top jockey Pat Eddery, riding Dancing Brave.

Instinctively, they knew that they must bring him home from hospital to ease the depression he was suffering - which at one point had deepened to such an extent that they feared he was giving up on life.

They raised money towards a £26,000 trust fund by selling hundreds of copies of the drawing around the country.

Businesses and their staff held fundraising events, local craftsmen gave their time and firms contributed materials so that Wayne could go back to St Andrew's Road.

Mrs Neilson said: "He smiled for the first time when we brought him home. He wanted to be with us.

"When he was here we included him in everything. We loved him and he loved us.

"It meant caring for him 24 hours a day but I don't regret a minute of it. I was his mother and that was enough.

"He had a lot of pain but that is gone now."

Mrs Neilson added: "He has left a big hole in our lives and we don't know how we are going to cope without him.

"But we want everybody who helped us bring him home to know how much it meant to him and to us. We always knew he could have another heart attack and go at any time so every minute was precious.

"Thanks to the fundraisers, the doctors, nurses and paramedics and everybody else who helped us he was able to share that time with us."