X Factor’s Nicholas McDonald has opened up about his rare heart condition.
The 16-year-old has to take daily medication to keep the problem under control, according to the Daily Star Sunday.
After suffering a life-threatening heart attack aged eight while playing football, Nicholas nearly died when he swallowed his tongue.
The singer was saved when his coach knocked out two front teeth out to clear his airway.
“I was playing football and all I remember was passing the ball and collapsing. I was later told that I’d had a cardiac arrest and died," he said.
Nicholas is very brave and says that having the condition has taught him just how important life is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxbKYcDXyA4
“After about a year I thought ‘I don’t want to spend my life being too scared to do anything’.
"It’s weird to think my heart could stop and I could just die tomorrow but that’s why I live every day as much as I can and enjoy myself."
The young teenager wowed on Saturday night's show with his renedition of Sarah McLachlan's Ang
