The family of a boy left severely brain-damaged after a horror accident say he will “come out of it walking and talking” amid a remarkable recovery.

Rainham lad Jack Dolan, 15, was knocked unconscious and almost drowned in the sea after a flip off Stone Pier in Margate went tragically wrong.

The Howard School pupil was airlifted to King’s College Hospital, where a scan revealed no brain activity.

His heartbroken family planned his funeral and said goodbye to him three times after he was put on end-of-life care and a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order was in place.

But while the teenager was at a hospice he spoke for the first time when he looked at his mum, grabbed her and said, “help”.

Jack’s step-dad David Nolan says “everything changed” from this point – which was about a month after the tragedy – and his son has defied the odds, continuing to make vast improvements in his recovery.

And despite many fearing he would not make it, the youngster will spend Christmas at home surrounded by family and friends.

“We took him to the hospice to die,” the 35-year-old said. “We planned his funeral, chose songs, picked pallbearers and we said goodbye to him three times.

“The fact he's here is amazing and making progress – roll on next Christmas.

“This year, we're having a quiet one on Christmas day with just family and then I think everybody's coming round on Boxing Day for a party.

“We can't take Jack anywhere as we need his hoist and his changing facilities. From my cousins in London to Lisa’s family in Hastings, we will all party with him on Boxing Day.”

Jack, who has two younger sisters, was described by his family as a friendly and mischievous boy, who loved being active and spending time with friends.

There was a huge emergency response to the incident after the schoolboy jumped into the water on June 23.

The young lad has suffered from heart issues and seizures along with a chest infection and a collapsed lung.

But while his family expected the chest infection to claim his life, he was able to fight it off with no medical intervention – even reinflating his lung by himself.

Mr Dolan has already suffered two cardiac arrests and may suffer strokes due to spots found on his brain – but further tests are required.

Jack is undergoing rehabilitation with the Children’s Trust, spending Monday to Friday in residential care and returning home at weekends.

David says his stepson is “smashing it”, adding: “He laughs when you tickle his belly, he says a handful of words and he's fully responsive.

“They've changed his diagnosis. He was classed as ‘vegetative’ and then ‘minimally conscious’ but he's now ‘conscious with impairments’.

“His diagnosis will soon change to a ‘movement and function disorder’, which means he’s emerging.

“And for the first time, the head physiotherapist has indicated he might be able to walk again.

“He uses the eye gaze – like the computer Stephen Hawking used – brilliantly to play games and to select emojis. He's using it without fault.”

But when his state-funded rehab comes to an end, the family will only be entitled to 20 physio sessions a year, which is about one every three weeks.

David says trying to find private neurological physiotherapy is “very hard” and could cost a couple of hundred pounds a week.

“Bearing in mind he's pressing buttons, he's indicating ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on cards, he's moving his head, he's looking around the room, he's answering to his name, he's picking up balls, he's sticking his middle finger and his thumb up at me – all of this with intensive rehab,” David added.

“But they're going to see him once every three weeks.”

The family has set up a fundraising page to help Jack get the care he needs.

David says his stepson has spent about 16 weeks in rehab, which was extended by a month because of the progress Jack made.

But he believes for continued improvement, the youngster will need to see a physiotherapist once a week.

“He is going to come out of this walking and talking but we need the help to do that,” David added.

“The fundraising has given him a good, comfortable life but the NHS needs to fund more physio. Someone has to as he's just going to stagnate and stop.

“He's done so well that it's criminal to get him this far and then let him stall because they don't want to fund physio once a week, which isn't a big ask.

“His mum and I have paid taxes our whole life. That's what the NHS is for. They should be helping us.

“When you've got a case like Jack's, which is so severe yet so promising, we should get the help.”

Kindhearted people raised more than £40,000 to fund a hyperbaric chamber, which is an enclosed space with higher air pressure used to increase oxygen delivery to the body.

His dad says he will be going in it on Friday for the first time and it will help repair damaged brain cells.

“He's going to be disabled and he will have spasticity, which is where you don't quite have the same control over your muscles,” David added.

“So like me and you, if we're holding a can of Coke and having a conversation, subconsciously our brain knows to hold that can and not drop it. He may well drop it because he has to create new neurological paths.

“If he loses concentration, he may drop things and his hand might claw up when he's concentrating on something else.

“He won't have 100% control over his muscles for a long time.

“But you don't know, he's so young, he could get five or six years down the line and have full control over his muscles.”