ONE year on from his tragic death, the family of teenage heart attack victim Jamie Bucknell have today paid a special tribute to him.

Dozens of helium balloons, carrying the message "I Love You," were released at Jamie's grave, in Strensall and Towthorpe Cemetery.

The 14-year-old's parents, Keith and Debbie, and his sister, Jodie, now 13, were at his graveside, along with a number of Jamie's friends.

Keith, of Brecks Lane, Strensall, described the last 12 months as "a blur".

He told the Evening Press: "It is impossible to describe how much we miss Jamie. We all agree we were privileged to have spent over 14 years with him and wouldn't swap that time for anything.

"We believe we gave him a fantastic life and he gave us much, much more."

Jamie's anniversary comes less than a month after his family were finally able to put his headstone in place.

They endured a long battle with Strensall Parish Council over the design of the stone.

The recently-erected stone replaced one which the council ordered the family to remove in June, on the grounds that an etching of Jamie's face was too big.

Before that first stone was put in place the Bucknells were in dispute with the council over its design, and had two suggestions turned down.

Keith said: "The past year has seen a lot of unnecessary heartache for us and we are doing our best to move on.

"We are going into mediation with York NHS Trust to ask for some answers about Jamie's death.

"Two mediators have been nominated and we are waiting to get started."

Jamie collapsed and died while in an English class at Huntington School.

Tests showed he had suffered a massive heart attack, caused by an underdeveloped mitral valve.

Extensive tests on Jamie's heart after a previous collapse at school had failed to find any cause for concern.

Since their son's death, Keith and Debbie have dedicated themselves to fundraising for the charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), raising over £30,000.

In the weeks immediately after Jamie died, the couple teamed up with the Evening Press to run the Jamie's Have A Heart Appeal.

Evening Press readers flooded the paper with donations to quickly raise more than £7,500.

The cash was used to pay for 12 potentially life-saving portable heart monitors, now in use at York District Hospital.

Keith said: "The work helps us. It gives us something to focus on, and we intend to carry on with it.

"Obviously this is a difficult time for us, and Christmas will be tough again, but once New Year is here we will start fundraising again.

"What we have done already, and what we have planned for the future, means that Jamie's death has not been in vain."

Updated: 09:42 Tuesday, November 12, 2002