Wilfre Mercedes is looking forward to doing what teens do during summer break.

“I’ve been going outside, been with some friends and stuff. Been pretty cool,” he said.

Sounds pretty typical, but it’s actually part of his road to recovery.

The 15-year-old recently received a heart transplant — a medical journey that started right before Christmas and led to a brush with death.

“Like, I was watching movies with my dad, and I was good. And the next day in the morning, I was throwing up. He took me to the hospital, and from there I couldn’t remember anything,” Wilfre recalled.

He went into heart failure within hours.

“They said that fortunately we took him at the right time. We were lucky that what happened to him happened [at the hospital],” said his mom, Maria Mercedes Lopez.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg soon placed Wilfre on life support, telling his parents he was suffering from an enlarged heart — and needed a transplant.

Less than a week later, Wilfre received the miracle he needed. He was matched with two possible donors.

“It meant I was going to stay alive,” Wilfre said.

Once the transplant was done, Wilfre shocked his doctors when, just a few days later, he wanted to play a game of soccer in the hallway.

The teen has played since he was just a toddler, and it’s one of his favorite pastimes.

He says the drive to play again helped him get back on his feet so quickly.

“I was pumped and ready. I was like ‘lets do it!’” he said, playing with the team of doctors and nurses who gave him that second chance.

“After transplant, I think it’s just more than what his physical condition was. It was his drive, I think — that drive an athlete has to motivate himself and get going,” said Awais Ashfaq, congenital cardiac surgeon at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

That drive, doctors say, will allow him to lead a normal life.

Wilfre is now looking forward to starting high school in person in the fall — and getting back on the field.

“I’m so happy with my son, and I’m so thankful to the team at Johns Hopkins and the doctors and nurses and everyone. So grateful,” his mom said.