A TEENAGER who wasn’t expected to survive the night after suffering horrendous 90 per cent burns in a house fire is defying the odds with his miraculous recovery.

Troy Mackinlay, now 19, was in bed when flames engulfed the bedroom at his grandmother’s house in Shildon on October 14 last year.

After being rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, the teenager was given only a five per cent chance of survival and his family were told to prepare for the worst.

However, 11 weeks on, and Troy is said to be making a miraculous recovery.

Troy’s sister, Abra Wood, said: “It’s a miracle, it really is. The doctors told us they didn’t think he would make it through the night and warned us to prepare for the worst and last week they had him stood up and out of bed, I couldn't believe it when they told me.

“Troy is out of bed and in a chair most days now, he has even been talking to us and telling us what he wants to listen to.

“He’s still in the critical care unit completely wrapped in bandages, and he has a long way to go, but he is doing absolutely amazing.”

Emergency services were called to the house fire in Albert Street, Shildon, just after 7am on Friday, October 14, and arrived minutes later to find Troy and his cousin, Tommie Vayro, making their way out of the house moments before the upstairs windows shattered.

The pair were upstairs when the fire broke out in the back bedroom of the mid-terraced property.

They were staying at their grandmother’s house after helping her move in a few days earlier.

Their grandmother, Barbara Robinson, who was asleep downstairs when the fire started, escaped with smoke inhalation but lost of all of her homely possessions.

However thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, Ms Robinson’s new house has been made to look like a home.

Mrs Wood added: “We would like to thank everyone who has been generous enough to help my grandmother replace her household items. The majority of the things in there have been donated.

“We would also like to thank everyone who has sent cards to Troy, we have been reading them out to him and he loves it.

“We try and make sure that somebody is in the hospital with him every day so he’s not by himself.

“It’s a miracle that Troy is still here, breathing on his own and not on as many machines.

“The doctors and everybody looking after him are doing a brilliant job, we are so grateful to them, without them Troy wouldn’t be here.”