Single father Cecil Burgess has one simple reason to celebrate Valentine's Day — his heart is hopefully on the mend after a devastating diagnosis late last year threatened to leave his sick seven-year-old son an orphan.

The 33-year-old from Pembroke was told he had congestive heart failure in October and spent New Year's Eve in hospital breathing with the help of an oxygen machine, his long-time best friend Kandee Souza at his side.

Doctors were unsure whether he would recover from the sickness — rare in a man of his age — which left him unable to walk and with his body full of blood clots, including two in his heart and one in his lungs.

But after treatment at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, the former barman and DJ is now determined to win back his health so he can care for his son Shi-Shun.

The little boy, who himself has neurofibroma, a serious disease of the nervous system, lost his mom to cancer when he was aged just two months. Shi-Shun was operated on recently for a painful birth defect which was making him bow-legged.

The youngster was living with Mr. Burgess' mom but she was diagnosed with first-stage Alzheimer's Disease and he is now staying with his maternal grandmother in Somerset until his dad is well again.

Problems with his health insurance mean Mr. Burgess is unsure how he is going to pay the $80,000 to $150,000 he already owes for his own medical treatment or find the money for Shi-Shun's ongoing health care.

Despite all of this, Ms Souza, 28, says Cecil — "my teddy bear" — remains as uncomplaining as ever, never asking for help for himself and always looking out for others.

Shi-Shun, meanwhile, is described by his dad as "such a comical little boy". "This was the first Christmas I wasn't with him and I wasn't impressed with that," Mr. Burgess told The Royal Gazette.

"I had a stomach virus so I wasn't able to see him. He's so in tune with other people's feelings that he will ask me: 'Daddy, why are you sick?'. I can't give him the answer. It was a rough Christmas for me."

Retail manager Ms Souza said West End Primary School student Shi-Shun was "compassionate, caring, inquisitive". "He's had so many knocks, from his operation, to finally understanding 'how come my mom died', to changing schools, to daddy being sick.

"I told Shi: 'You're my heartbeat because I can't live without you. Your daddy is my lungs because I can't breathe without him'."

Medics don't know why Mr. Burgess contracted congestive heart failure — a reversible condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's other organs — at such a young age and have told him he may need a pacemaker fitted at some stage. Meanwhile, he is waiting to see if the medication he is on does its job and allows him to return to work.

Ms Souza is trying to resolve the insurance issues with BF&M — thought to be caused in part because Mr. Burgess was a seasonal worker and fell ill when unemployed — to ensure he and Shi-Shun get the help they need.

"Basically, I was told that my best friend was going to die," she said. "I cried in my car when I was by myself. I said: 'What do I have to do?' I said: 'I can give you a $100 a month. You can have my car'."

Mr. Burgess said: "I have got a good bunch of friends. I have this bad habit of hiding my sickness from people. But from now on, if I feel a little pain in my toe, I'll tell you!"

He added: "Kandee has done more than I could ever have dreamt. How can you put into words our relationship?"

Ms Souza recently held a fundraising evening at Level nightclub for the family and proceeds from a Valentine's Day party tonight at the Wine Cellar at Fairmont Southampton will go to Mr. Burgess.

Radio DJ Miss Thang — aka Kristy Burgess — and her Phenomenal Women's Association — organised this evening's party.

She said: "My heart nearly melted when I heard the anguish in Kandee's voice, as she explained how she is trying to support herself, Cecil, and provide for his child because he has to be flown in and out of the Island so often."

• Tickets for tonight's party are available from Secrets. Donations to help Mr. Burgess can be made via the Phenomenal Women's Association's charity account at the Bank of Bermuda: 010-758-381-012.

• If you can help Mr. Burgess, please e-mail kandee.kane@hotmail.com or join the Facebook group for Cecil Burgess on the Bermuda network.