A PORT schoolgirl who has just undergone a lifesaving operation won the vote of an X Factor star when he met her in hospital.

Brave teenager Stephanie Hurrell underwent a nine-hour operation to install a pacemaker and repair a faulty heart valve.

She was feeling low in Yorkhill Hospital when a visit from Scottish singing sensation Nicky McDonald perked her up.

The 16-year-old said: “I was getting bored — there was nothing to get up for.

“Nicky was nice, he’d had heart surgery too when he was eight.

“He signed the wall in the ward because he said he used to draw on the wall when he was there before.” Stephanie’s dad Andrew, 43, said the visit from the TV star was a real boost for his brave daughter.

He said: “She was excited about Nicky coming to the hospital — she had been fed up lying in her bed.

“She hadn’t been eating for the first couple of days on the ward but when she heard he was coming, she wanted up and showered, her hair done and make-up on.

“She had a big smile on her face.” Stephanie got an even better surprise when she was allowed home on Thursday, only days after receiving her lifesaving surgery.

She was discharged despite medics earlier predicting that she would have to spend weeks recovering in hospital. Andrew said: “I know kids can bounce back quickly but I’m surprised.

“I think maybe the surgeons were giving us the worst scenario.” Mum Angela, 40, who was by Stephanie’s side throughout her hospital stay, said: “It’s brilliant that she’s home.

“It was frightening waiting for the phone to ring when she was in theatre.

“There was quite a lot that could go wrong — because of previous surgery, her heart could have been stuck to her breast bone and they could have pierced it when they were operating. There were quite a lot of complications.

The family, including Stephanie’s younger sister Jacqueline, 10, live in West Woodside Avenue.

The bubbly St Stephen’s High pupil said: “I’m glad to be home, I was getting fed up in hospital.

“I’m looking forward to watching TV — I haven’t seen anything for two and a half weeks.” She’s already been to visit her school pals — who are so jealous that she met X Factor star Nicky and got a signed photo.

Stephanie said: “They said ‘you met Nicky McDonald — it’s not fair!’.” The youngster, who could be back at school next week, was told she could have died without the operation.

She said: “I was upset — I cried when they told me that.” The family has been inundated with goodwill messages from friends and relatives from all over the country and want to thank everyone for being so thoughtful.

Angela, said: “You feel quite isolated up at the hospital on your own.

“Getting the support does help.”