LIAM Millard's is a living miracle.Just weeks ago, the 18-year-old was given a one in 100 chance of survival after a `silent' killer disease caused his heart to fail.The Macarthur man was living his dream of playing football with his best mate on the Gold Coast after they had successfully completed their VCE.But early last month it quickly turned into a nightmare.Liam and his best friend were relaxing in the Coolangatta unit they shared when the former Hamilton Imperials footballer had a seizure and fell into cardiac arrest.Liam's father Garry said it took paramedics a staggering 18 defibrillator hits - three times more than usual - to stabilise his son en route to Tweed Heads Hospital.But the drama was far from over. Doctors worked on him for another 20 minutes and gave him another 13 hits with the defibrillator.Doctors then induced a coma while they considered their options.``They were concerned because he was out for over 60 minutes,'' said Mr Millard, who, with wife Suzy, rushed to Liam's bedside.``They had to slow down his body to work out the complications. His kidneys and liver had started to shut down and they weren't sure if there was brain damage.``It was pretty full-on. We were later told one in 100 people survive what he did.''Liam was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy - a serious disease which causes the heart muscle to thicken and is almost impossible to pick up until it is too late.Mr Millard said the diagnosis was ``unbelievable'', with the family having no history of heart problems.He said his son, who now has a defibrillator/pacemaker implanted in his chest, had made a ``fantastic'' recovery.``It's amazing. But he still has a long way to go.``He lost six kilograms of muscle he has to put back on and take about five or six tablets a day.''Although Liam looks set to be sidelined from the football field for ``quite some time'', his spirits remain high.``It hasn't really sunk in yet,'' he told The Standard from his Macarthur home yesterday.``It's a lot colder down here than Queensland. But with my family, friends and home-cooked meals, it's pretty good.''