THE CANADIAN PRESS

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VANCOUVER - A 13-year-old boy from the Vancouver-area has survived a potentially fatal heart condition by becoming the youngest patient in the world to receive the world's smallest heart pump.

Sikander Sahota had the heart pump inserted last weekend at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver.

Sahota stated feeling ill on Saturday, and told his mom he needed to go to the hospital.

"My lungs started hurting, then I couldn't bend my neck, I couldn't breath so good," he told a national television news station.

At first his mother thought it was just the flu, but the boy was persistent.

"He made me talk him to the hospital, because he kept saying, 'Mom, I'm not breathing, I'm dying, take me to the hospital,"' Mandeeop Sahota told the news station.

Sikander Sahota was diagnosed with viral myocarditis, an infection that destroys heart muscle.

The pump was inserted into groin and travelled into his heart chamber, where it began helping his heart pump blood.

The pump was in for two days, and then it was removed.

"Painful and strange," Sahota said when asked how the pump felt.

Doctors believe the boy is the youngest person to ever get the tiny heart pump.

Sahota is expected to be recovering for about two weeks, but after that he should be back on his feet - he's even been given the OK to play soccer again.