Troy Winter, 17, died on Wednesday after both his lungs collapsed.

Confusion and shock came at once for Christchurch couple Colleen and Shane Winter when their son burst into their bedroom fighting for breath.

Little did they know within eight minutes there could be little done to save their 17-year-old boy, Troy Craig Winter, who went to bed on Tuesday night as a young man with a promising building career and future in quad bike racing.

The entrance to the Winter household has been a revolving door of family and friends since their teenage son died of what has been deemed recurrent bilateral tension pneumothorax - the collapse of both lungs - with lung disease.

DEAN KOZANIC/Fairfax NZ Colleen and Shane Winter.

Before that, the Winters, and their eldest son Hayden, 20, had little explanation for the "nightmare" that unfolded about 3am Wednesday.

Shane Winter remembers putting his son on the couch, while his mother waited outside for an ambulance to arrive.

"He was flailing around, trying to get his breath in and we held him on the couch, he went blue and lost consciousness ... The communications lady on the phone told me to put him on the floor, so I did and started CPR until the ambulance got here, they took over," he said.

"There was no heartbeat. He had pretty much gone when the ambulance arrived," Colleen Winter added.

Early last year, Troy spent 10 days in hospital for surgery on the sudden collapse of his right lung, but a check up three months later gave him the all clear.

The Winters say there was no logic to their son's condition, only that it was sometimes found in "tall and gangly" boys.

"We are just happy it happened at home with us," Shane Winter said.

Troy's body was returned to his family on Friday, when grieving friends and family gathered to reminisce about his cheeky sense of humour and love of life.

Known as Big Red for his height and red hair, Troy was an apprentice builder for Hann Construction after leaving St Thomas of Canterbury College early for a pre-trade course at the Southern Institute of Technology.

"He wasn't academic at all, neither of our boys were, he was hands on, he wanted to be out there. And they knew Shane and I had left school at that age early too, so they often threw that back at us," Colleen Winter said.

Whatever his electrician brother Hayden did, Troy "wanted to do it bigger and better".

Troy had a bright future racing quad bikes with the Canterbury ATV Association, and played social softball for Rolleston with his best mate Cory Cox, 17.

He loved his L200 Mitsubishi ute and helped his father rebuild his Mark 3 Ford Zephyr.

Since his death, his parents were still learning of "fibs" and misdemeanours from years gone by.

In his final few days, Troy spent Easter weekend with Cory's family, also known as "his second family", south at Lake Aviemore.

His father has also heeded the last piece of advice his son gave him.

"That was his last words to me, 'get a haircut, old mate'."