A TEENAGE boy with heart disease has flown to the United States to meet consultants to discuss life-saving treatment.

Bradley Harrison, 16, was told he would have to be “too sick to get out of bed” before being put on the list for a new heart and lungs in the UK.

But his family were not prepared to wait and managed to raise more than £30,000 to get him from Shoreham to Cleveland, Ohio, to get a second opinion.

Bradley’s sister Ellie Harrison, 18, said: “I’m so happy and grateful he has been able to go. He is my best friend as well as my brother, we’re very close.

“He, my mum and my aunt left the house at 4.45am this morning to catch their plane so I got up to say goodbye.

“I am so relieved this is happening as his breathing has been really quite bad lately and now he needs crutches just to get around.”

Bradley, who was born with the heart condition, had two major operations as a child but his health started to decline in 2015.

In October last year, he was told his heart was struggling and his lungs had been damaged by pulmonary hypertension, a condition that increases blood pressure in the arteries within the lungs.

His mother Jaimie Eason could not face the prospect of “sitting around waiting for Bradley’s health to deteriorate” so researched other options abroad.

She found a clinic in Cleveland that specialise in treating patients like Bradley and were happy to see him to assess his condition.

Ellie said: “They’ve got a ten-hour flight ahead of them. They had to upgrade to a pod so Bradley can be as comfortable as possible for the journey or it could affect his breathing. He’ll be meeting a consultant called Hani Najm who will run lots of tests on him and then assess what needs to happen next.

“He’ll have blood tests, ECGs and a special line put in his groin to see how bad things are, which will be very painful for him.”

Bradley and his family are booked to fly home on Tuesday and hope to have a clear plan for him by then.

Should he require surgery in the States, it will cost $100,000 (about £75,000) so more fundraising would be required to ensure this happens as quickly as possible.

Ellie said: “I miss going out with him to parties..

“We’re meant to be going to Turkey in September with my boyfriend and some other friends but that probably won’t happen as he is too sick. But I’m very optimistic, I know he’s going to be OK.”

If Bradley is to return to the States for surgery, he will need to be there for six weeks and his recovery is likely to take six months.

Donate to the Mend Brad’s Heart fund at https://race-nation.com/donate/705.