THE father of a 23-year-old who died after taking ecstasy tablets on a night out has described how he shows young people his son's ashes as part of a campaign to highlight the dangers of drugs.
Jamie Burns, from York Street in north Belfast, collapsed and suffered a heart attack at Shine nightclub in Queen's University students' union last November while out with friends.
The young call centre worker was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he passed way hours later after a second cardiac arrest.
At an inquest hearing yesterday, his father William spoke of the devastating impact of the death on their family and how it had spurred him to raise awareness among teenagers that 'one pill can kill'.
Since his son's passing, Mr Burns has visited more than a dozen families across the city after they contacted him about their children's misuse of drugs, with some as young as 13 years old.
"Because of one very silly mistake, Jamie paid the ultimate price with his life. Not only did his life end, my own and my wife's did... it's been very dark for us and his two sisters," he told Belfast coroner's court.
"That's why I started the one pill can kill campaign. I go around schools and give talks. I've no qualifications, I'm not a drugs counsellor but I'm a parent who has lost his son and best friend.
"Jamie was a very shy lad, a typical 23-year-old who loved his football... I think it was a spur of the moment thing (when he took the tablets) but I can't be certain."
Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Burns said he has to be 'brutal' with some young people about the dangers of drug taking.
"If I say to a young person 'don't take drugs' they won't listen. When I go to see some of the older kids I tell them about the moment I saw my son on a cold, metal trolley in the Royal with his eyes taped shut.
"Jamie was 6ft tall and 14 stone. I ask the young person to put out their hands and give them his ashes - I tell them that's my son in their hands. It makes them stop and think."
During yesterday's hearing, a friend who had gone out with Jamie that night, Curtis Griffith, described how he knew something was wrong when he saw his upper body muscles tense as he was dancing.
Mr Griffith said he had told him in the nightclub that he had 'two pills'.
State pathologist Dr James Lyness confirmed that high levels of ecstasy were found in the 23-year-old's bloodstream.
He also said that pre-existing heart disease was discovered during a post-mortem but even without this, the lethal levels of the drug were enough to kill him.
Coroner Patrick McGurgan commended William Burns on his campaign to save lives at a time when the north is faced with a 'tidal wave of drug deaths'.
