A man who was given one hour to live is fund-raising for Leicester's hospitals after a last-minute treatment saved his life.
Johnny Normal's life was hanging in the balance when he underwent Ecmo treatment at Glenfield Hospital.
It happened after the was rushed into hospital with pneumonia, kidney and liver failure earlier this year.
Johnny said if it were not for Ecmo, which oxygenates a patient's blood so their lungs can recover, he would not be here today.
"I lived to tell the tale and I want to raise money to make sure other people can too," said Johnny, 47, who lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
"Me and my family are so grateful for what the Ecmo team did."
The father-of-two first noticed he was ill when he came down with a temperature, which he put down to flu.
A week later, he was taken by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham. There, he was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, and liver and kidney failure.
"Doctors told my wife, Andrea, that I wasn't going to make the next hour," said part-time radio DJ Johnny.
"They told her to be prepared, and bring my two children in to say goodbye."
Johnny's condition worsened and he said he went "downhill very quickly".
"The doctors said they had tried everything they could," he said.
Then, said Johnny, one of the consultants contacted Glenfield about him having Ecmo treatment.
He said: "All of my organs were gradually shutting down, it was my last hope."
Johnny was able to go to Glenfield for Ecmo. He was put in an induced coma, which made having the treatment possible, and was transported to Leicester.
It failed to work the first time, but doctors decided to give it a second go.
"They could have given up on me," said Johnny.
"It's an expensive treatment, they could have decided not to try again, but they didn't."
After around a week, doctors decided to take Johnny – who was still in an induced coma - off the treatment.
A few days later, he began to wake up.
"My eyes opened after nine days of being in a coma," he said.
"I remember my wife saying to me, 'if you can hear me, squeeze my hand', so I squeezed her hand – I remember that so vividly."
Just when Johnny thought he was making progress, he suffered another major setback.
"I had an allergic reaction to the drugs that were being given to me and I ended up having two cardiac arrests," he said.
"Later, doctors found out I had had a stroke at the same time too."
At the end of May, Johnny was transferred to Royal Leamington Spa Rehabilitation Hospital, where he was put in intensive care.
Due to not being able to keep food down, Johnny had lost four stone since he first went into hospital.
He had to learn how to move again, including how to reach out, stand up and even sit up.
At the end of August, Johnny was discharged from hospital.
He still struggles to walk and currently uses a walking stick.
"I walk short distances but anything longer I need to use a wheelchair," he said.
"Even unloading a dishwasher gets me out of breath.
"But I am getting better."
Following his experience, Johnny has decided he wants to help raise money for Leicester hospitals and more specifically the Ecmo department.
"At the end of the day, if I hadn't have had the Ecmo treatment I would have died.
"Some people say I'm the unluckiest man alive but I think I'm the luckiest. I'm still here today.
"They saved my life."
Johnny is currently asking people to pledge money but he said as soon as he is able to, he will do more physically to fundraise.
To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/johnny-normal
