JOSH Caruso’s beaming smile made people naturally gravitate towards him – his heart kept them close by.

So, even in profound grief after suddenly losing her 13-year-old son to an undiagnosed condition, Belinda Caruso found a tiny piece of solace in the knowledge of what ultimately took him.

‘‘His heart was double in size – as soon as the pathologist said that to me yesterday I said ‘That’s Josh’,’’ Mrs Caruso said.

‘‘He really did have a big heart.’’

Josh was on his way to school at St Mary’s High School, Gateshead, on Tuesday when he collapsed with what his father Joe said was his unknown ticking time bomb – congenital heart disease.

His sudden death has reverberated through the Hunter’s sporting and policing communities, where Mr Caruso is one of the most widely respected police officers and his wife a former cop.

More than 4000 people have joined a Facebook tribute page and Josh’s beloved Valentine-Eleebana junior rugby league club will be hosting a minute’s silence and a releasing of balloons this morning before a semi-final involving Josh’s little brother, Bayley.

Josh was the five-eighth in the club’s under-13 side and was a representative player for Wallsend touch.

‘‘If you asked him, he would tell you he was pretty awesome at it,’’ big brother Nicholas said yesterday.

Mrs Caruso added: ‘‘He was a really happy kid, happy to do anything.

‘‘Everyone really warmed to him.

‘‘Although, he did have a temper – he was pretty similar to his mother, I suppose.’’

The middle of three brothers, Josh was also very close to his cousins with the three of them known as the Triplets because they were born only a few months apart and inseparable during family holidays at Fingal Bay.

‘‘He was your typical little Aussie larrikin who did everything with a grin on his face,’’ uncle Michael Locking said.

‘‘He loved climbing trees, climbing onto roofs, you couldn’t keep him still.’’

Josh was also known for his New Year’s Eve ‘‘nudie runs’’, he was nicknamed ‘‘Nibbles’’ by his uncle because of the way he picked at his food – and he never shirked a dare.

‘‘It didn’t matter what you dared him to do, he would do it,’’ Mrs Caruso said.

Sometimes he even almost dared himself – like the time he paddled a surfboard through the shore break at Waikiki Beach in Hawaii so he could join the locals outside the reef in the bigger waves.

He was nine at the time.

Josh’s relatives and mates have planted a memorial at the spot where he fell.

A funeral will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral at 2pm on Monday.