Parents warn against drugs after 'one pill' kills son

Lesley and Billy Burns lost their only son Jamie to drugs. Credit: UTV

The parents of a young man who died after taking one ecstasy tablet have spoken out for the first time to try to warn others about the dangers.

Their harrowing account of watching the life drain out of their only son serves as a stark warning.

Jamie Burns, from north Belfast, was just 23 when he collapsed in the Students’ Union at Queen’s University in November last year.

Within hours, he was dead.

His heartbroken parents, Lesley and Billy, believe anyone who saw exactly what happened to him in his final moments would think twice before taking drugs.

“Anybody out there who thinks drugs are good - if they had been with me at that precise moment …” Billy told UTV.

“When you walk in and see your son on a trolley and blood all over the floor, his eyes taped, the thing down his throat, and the life draining away from him …

“I guarantee that would change anybody’s mind.

“One tablet, that’s all it takes.”

  • WATCH: Lesley and Billy Burns speak out on losing their son Jamie to drugs