A TRAGIC teenager who bravely battled cystic fibrosis died just days before he was due to sit his GCSEs.

Kaine Lomax Shuttleworth died at the age of 16 in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital with his family, including mum Jamie and dad Steven, at his bedside.

Kaine, of Mossfield Road, Kearsley, was admitted to hospital for a routine operation on his throat on April 28, but doctors found a bleed on his lung.

He died just over two weeks later — days before he was due to sit his GCSE exams — after being put into an induced coma.

Kaine's aunt, Nicole Shuttleworth, said: "It was very emotional, we were told several times that we were going to lose him.

"One day they said he only had a few hours left, so we gathered a lot of the family, but he fought it off.

"He has always been a fighter since he was young, and he was a fighter right to the end."

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition which causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick sticky mucus, and there is currently no cure.

Miss Shuttleworth said Kaine wrote a poem aged eight named Breath, in which he accepted his condition and said he would "fight it to hell and back".

The family hope to publish the poem to act as a lasting tribute.

Kaine, who was diagnosed with the genetic condition aged seven months old, was affectionately known as Sheldon, a character from hit US show The Big Bang Theory, who is known for his intellect.

The former Prestolee Primary School and Kearsley Academy pupil was predicted to achieve mostly A grades in his examinations, and had dreams of becoming a scientist.

Miss Shuttleworth added: "He reminded me of Brian Cox, listening to Kaine was like listening to him. I was trying to take it in but I didn't understand it, he was so clever.

"Considering he had to go for appointments at the hospital every three months and missed quite a bit of school, to do so well with his education was a fantastic achievement."

She said that the family have been inundated with messages from people paying their respects.

She added: "He was the best lad that I have ever known. We have had so many messages from people who would say exactly the same thing.

"He was pretty much a normal kid, it only started to affect him really as he became a teenager.

"He never let it get him down, he always went out with his friends and enjoyed himself."

A popular student at Kearsley Academy, Kaine was voted as head of the student council by his peers every year he was at school, right from Year 7 to Year 11.

His friends have left graffiti tributes to him on the motorway footbridge near Moss Road, where they often met.

Kaine, who grew up in Breightmet, also leaves his six-year-old half brother Marshall and two-year-old half sister Millie.

His funeral will be held on Friday at St Osmund's Church in Breightmet, followed by a committal at Overdale Crematorium.

Kaine's cousin, Tony Crook, is completing a parachute jump next month to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/tonycrook4