A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy with days to live was saved by a heart transplant at the 11th hour.

Justin Maskell was given five weeks to live and was being kept alive by machines when his heart condition rapidly deteriorated.

Doctors launched a desperate bid to find a donor and, after eight false alarms, a suitable heart was finally found.

Justin underwent the eight-hour transplant and is now looking forward to a bright future at home in South Hylton, Sunderland.

Mum Amanda, 31, said: "He's on top of the world now. His new heart is absolutely great."

Justin was born with severe heart disease and underwent a series of major operations as a baby.

He had what was supposed to be his last operation in January this year, but suffered problems and was fitted with a pacemaker.

He had been home just three days when he collapsed and was rushed back in to hospital where his family was told that he would need a transplant.

Justin was put on an Ecmo (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine, which takes over the work of the heart and lungs.

Mrs Maskell said: "Nobody has survived for longer than five weeks on Ecmo, so we had five weeks to find a heart."

After 15 days, they got a call to say a match had been found - a heart from an 11-year-old boy - and Justin had his transplant at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital on April 2.

He is now recovering at home after his six-month hospital stay, helped by his family, including dad Alex, 29, and brother, Darryl, 11.

Mrs Maskell, who is urging people to join the organ donor register, said: "It's not until you're in this position that you realise how important it is."