Shaun Wilson-Miller's YouTube post touches millions

SHAUN Wilson-Miller will fill his final days living out his dreams and giving comfort to people with his inspirational message.

SHAUN Wilson-Miller will find more enjoyment in the next few months than most experience in a lifetime.

Thanks to an outpouring of love for the dying Melbourne teen, the YouTube sensation will fill his final days living out his dreams and giving comfort to people around the world with his inspirational message.

Since his emotional goodbye video appeared on YouTube, Wilson-Miller has appeared on The Footy Show, filmed a guest role on Neighbours yesterday, met his footy hero, Essendon captain Jobe Watson, is writing his memoirs and has inspired a rap song.

The 17-year-old has even found love with a fellow heart patient.

"Yes, it's love," he says matter-of-factly. "We've been going out for 2 1/2 weeks, but we've been friends for seven years.

"The hardest thing for me is leaving her, knowing that I won't get to marry her. To have kids together. To grow old together. That is what makes me sad."

His heartbreak at leaving the love of his young life behind is a rare concession to grief from the teenager who has stunned the world with his positivity.

Soon after hearing that his battle-scarred body was rejecting his second heart transplant, Wilson-Miller recorded a message to his friends and family urging them to live their lives to the fullest and to look after his Dad when he was gone.

The message, recorded secretly in his bedroom late at night, was intended just for his Facebook friends, but a technical glitch meant he had to upload it to YouTube. By morning, he was stunned to discover that his video had had 10,000 hits.

It has now been watched by 1.3 million people.

Shaun doesn't want me to cry. He needs to know I'm going to be OK

Wilson-Miller's attitude has won hearts around the world - Kyle Sandilands confided to the teenager that the video made him cry for the first time in years.

But, unfortunately, it is also Wilson-Miller's unfathomable courage that has prompted scepticism - some people reckon he is an attention-seeker.

But he doesn't let the negativity or, as he calls them, the "haters", get him down. "I just want to have fun," he said.

"I want to enjoy my life.

"The way I look at it is I didn't get to decide this. These are the cards I've been dealt. I just have to roll with the punches.

"I have had two heart transplants, had a stent put in, and an aneurism. I have had 10 more years than I should have because of that. I want to go out with a bang."

Shaun enjoys a day on the Neighbours set. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Wise beyond his years, Wilson-Miller is unnervingly matter-of-fact about his condition and his prognosis.

He also understands, in this age of medical miracles, that people question why there couldn't possibly be a cure for him.

"If you think of the pipes around my heart as plants, those plants are slowly dying away," he said. "They can't just give me another transplant because the pipes around it are too damaged."

But his devoted father, Cameron Miller, is less accepting. "I have become angry with the world," he said. "I question why this beautiful person would be taken away from me, from his family and from the world. But Shaun doesn't want me to cry. He needs to know I'm going to be OK, so I go on."

Mr Miller admits that media attention had been a blessing and a curse for the family.

The overwhelmingly positive response to the video had brought them great comfort and was a welcome distraction from the inevitable. "I just want to protect him, but he's told me he would prefer to live," he said.

"After he had his first transplant, he said he wanted to play footy. I thought that sounded crazy, but he played for a season. Then he said he wanted to act, so I took him to see an agent. There's no point trying to stop him. He's good at everything he does."

He says his son's overnight fame has also forced them to discuss a painful topic - his funeral arrangements - as the pair realise that his death will affect more than just the people closest to him.

Mr Miller is hurt by people's cynicism. He carries photos of his son, unconscious, hooked up to machines, his body covered with surgical scars.

"People can't believe that he's sick because he looks so normal," he said.

"It's frustrating. I sit next to him when he sleeps sometimes and just watch him breathe all night. I can't believe that one day I'll get up and he'll be gone.

"I just pray that it's quick. I don't want him to suffer. No parent should have to bury their child. But he's just loving life and he wants us to do the same. He doesn't want us to cry for him."

Editorial: Shaun shows he's all heart