JUST four months ago brave 12-year-old Harvey Ratcliffe was clinging to life in intensive care.

The bright, rugby-mad youngster's life hung in the balance for nearly a week after his entire body was effectively shut down by a rare nervous disease.

But after an agonising wait for family and friends, strong-willed Harvey pulled though and this week he shared memories of his ordeal exclusively with the SNJ.

Harvey's descent into a coma was rapid and he still struggles to remember details of how it began.

"I had a headache and my spine hurt, I remember trying to get out of the car at the hospital," said Harvey, a star with the Painswick under-13s rugby team and an avid Gloucester fan.

"Then I remember waking up and didn't know where I was, I thought I was in heaven or something.

"I opened my eyes and saw two of everything, the first thing I looked at was the clock on the wall," he added.

With the TV commentary from a Six Nations International rugby match filling the room, Harvey also recalls his first attempt to communicate.

"I woke up and Ireland were playing Wales," said Harvey, who splits his time between Painswick, where his father Jerry lives, and Rutland, where his mother Lorna and sister Kitty, 14, reside.

"Mum asked who I wanted to win and I squeezed her hand when she said Ireland.

"I couldn't talk though as I had a tube stuck down my throat."

The nightmare began on February 20, when he was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital after waking up and not being able to move his legs.

The next day he was rushed to the intensive care unit at Bristol Royal Infirmary, where he was diagnosed as having ADEM, a virus which attacks the brain and spinal column.

Last year, neurone specialists at the unit dealt with just three cases of the disease, which claimed the life of one young girl.

Since being discharged in mid-March, Harvey has been given the all clear.

He realises how lucky he was but says this has never phased him and after regaining consciousness his mind quickly focussed on making a speedy recovery.

"The doctors told me it was one of the worst cases ever," said Harvey, who spent half term surfing in Cornwall with dad, Jerry and some rugby team-mates.

"They told me not to stand as I may fall and hurt myself but I got up every night and walked around the bed.

"I knew once I was walking again I could get out of hospital."

His remarkable return to full health was helped along by the visit of his favourite professional player, Gloucester's Marcel Garvey, when he was getting better in Frenchay Hospital.

And now back to full fitness, Harvey plans to spend the summer playing polo and cricket before the new rugby season in the autumn.

Proud and relieved father Jerry puts his son's revival down to a real fighting spirit.

"At one point there were about 14 specialists lined up next to his bed, interrogating us about everything from where he'd been playing to what he had touched," he said.

"But he turned the corner which doctors think is largely to do with his sheer will and determination as well as his physical strength."