THE funeral of a battling North-East youngster, who was born with a hole in the heart, is due to take place today.

Jordan Leadbitter, two, suffered from a rare heart condition which meant he required 24-hour around the clock care and to be drip-fed through his nose.

The Darlington youngster was also born with other handicaps, which included a curve in his spine, no ears, and one arm shorter than the other.

He had been waiting for an operation later this year at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital to permanently repair the hole in his heart.

This would have offered Jordan hope of a relatively normal life.

However, he died in his sleep on Sunday last week, in the week that he was due to receive an appointment for the operation.

His mum Lisa, 27, said the family thought of Jordan as a "brave little soldier".

She said: "He had a smile for everybody and if people did not notice his problems they would not think he was any different to a normal child.

"He liked to watch the Teletubbies and make a noise with his toys and could be a bit of a monster sometimes - he actually pulled the Christmas tree on top of him once.

"Jordan took up so much of our lives and now they are just empty and the house is so quiet."

The family now plan to keep Jordan's bedroom at their home in Firthmoor Crescent exactly the same, as a shrine to him.

His funeral will be held at Darlington's St John's Church, in Neasham Road, from 1.30pm and friends should meet there beforehand