WHEN doctors told Jordan O’Brien’s parents they wanted to withdraw life support, it was the players of Liverpool Football Club that helped pull him through.

The Swindon boy, then 10-years-old, had been in a coma for months - lying in a hospital bed at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

Jordan had been diagnosed with meningitis. He had come home from school feeling rough.

Mum Penny was taking her son’s temperature when the boy began to scream.

He had lost his sight.

“I couldn’t see her. That’s the only thing I remember,” said Jordan.

Now 26, the Eldene man is part of the young team producing a new youth magazine, #iDARE. He has produced a moving video telling the daily challenges he faces - and his determination to counter them. Like many young men his age, he hopes to find a partner, settle down and one day start a family.

Jordan has battled ill-health all his life. When she was pregnant, his mother suffered a bout of chicken pox.

When he was born, her young baby had to spend a year in hospital. The complications during pregnancy led to Jordan suffering chronic lung disease, weakening his immune system and making him prone to chest infections. He has cerebral palsy and brittle bones, affecting his ability to walk.

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Football fan Jordan meets Liverpool FC legend Phil Neal

Penny, now 49, remembered Jordan screaming for help when he feared he’d lost his sight: “It was absolutely devastating.”

After years of hospital visits, the family had an open door policy with Great Western. He was sped straight to the children’s ward at the Swindon hospital - bypassing A&E - before being sent onto the specialist department in Oxford.

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Jordan volunteers with Barnados

He spent months on a ventilator. “The doctors said to us the brain was so badly damaged. They wanted to withdraw life support,” Penny said.

“I told them, ‘We’re not going to do that. If Jordan’s going to go, he’s going to go on his own.’”

Players for Liverpool Football Club, Jordan’s favourite team, even recorded a CD with messages urging him to wake up.

Penny said: “Gradually, we saw signs he was still in there.”

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Jordan with mum Penny

When he finally woke, Jordan was like a newborn baby. He said: “I remember not being able to hold my head up when my mum was holding me in her arms.”

Inspirational Jordan is quietly spoken, a consequence of a paralysed left vocal cord.

But when he talks, his wisdom speaks volumes: “I want to tell everyone about my life story, just to help younger people in my same position with the same life difficulties as mine. I just want to say never give up and look back on how far you have come and what you have achieved in life.

“Hold your head up high, be proud of who you are and smile. Just take one day at a time.”

Jordan’s story had many wiping away a tear at the launch of the new magazine #iDARE late last month, a scheme run by youth organisation the Platform Project.

Mayor Junab Ali, who officially launched the monthly periodical, said: “I thought I was just coming to an ordinary launch event. But that has just blown my mind. It’s just unbelievable.”

Sadie Sharp, who runs the Platform Project, said: “Jordan’s emotional tenacity and positive mindset have never failed to impress. He turns up every time, despite sometimes clearly struggling with physical discomfort and limitations, continually tries new things as a way of increasing his confidence, and goes out of his way to get to know people in the group despite being self-conscious.

“Jordan’s story is nothing short of remarkable. I’m humbled to not only help him find his place in the world, but to help him help others to do the same.”