THE family of a Helensburgh teenager who died suddenly last week have thanked the community for their support - with money raised through an online fund-raiser set to give him “the send off he really deserves”.

Friends, neighbours and strangers are rallying round relatives of Jamie Haughie, who passed away in his sleep at the age of just 17, and almost £5,000 has been donated since Friday.

Tributes to the late teen poured in over the weekend as those who knew the keen footballer shared their fond memories.

Helensburgh Football Club wrote on Facebook: “We heard late last night the very sad news of the death of Jamie Haughie at the age of 17.

“Jamie played with the club’s 2004 age group team, under the guidance of Colin Nicolson and Brian Mckenna, and latterly with the 2003s with Rik Murray.

“Everyone associated with the club would like to pass on our condolences to Jamie’s family and friends at this time.”

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A statement from the Haughie family said: “We as a family would just like to say that whilst nothing takes away from the pain and heartbreak we are all feeling from losing Jamie, we take great comfort from the sheer amount of love, support and compassion shown by the people of Kirkmichael, Helensburgh and further afield.

“We would like to thank every single person who took the time to share the fund-raiser, share fond memories of Jamie and to those who so very kindly donated.

“We are eternally grateful to each and every one of you.

“We would also like to thank all of Jamie’s friends who have been doing so many beautiful things in his memory and we know he would be so proud of you all, our family are extremely thankful.

“Jamie was so very loved, not just by his family but by every person that knew him. He was an extremely kind, caring young man who would never walk past someone without saying hello whether he knew them or not.

“Our world will never be the same without him. He will be missed more than words could express.

“Rest easy darling boy, you will live on in the hearts of so many.”

Helensburgh Advertiser: Jamie HaughieJamie Haughie

In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, Kimberley Haughie, Jamie’s cousin and organiser of the GoFundMe page, said: “Wow. My family and I are finding it so hard to get the words together to express how absolutely blown away we are at the amount of support, compassion, kindness and generosity shown by everyone.

“We truly appreciate every single person who has so kindly donated, shared the post, shared kind words and memories of Jamie.

“As much as it is emotional to read these it’s beautiful how loved he truly is.

“We are eternally grateful that in this extremely hard, horrible time everyone has shown us nothing but love and so much support.

“The amount of people’s hearts that Jamie touched really shows and in this dark time brings us some comfort to know others love him just as much as we do.

“Many of the words we keep seeing are how Jamie was “some boy” and would never walk past anyone without saying ‘Hi’ and these are so true, Jamie was indeed some boy, he was an incredible boy, a kind boy and most importantly a very loved boy who also loved his family and friends so much too.

“Because of all the compassion shown we are able to give Jamie the send off he really deserves and will make it as special for him as humanly possible.

“From the bottom of each and every one of our hearts thank you so very much, we are so appreciative and so so very grateful.”

You can donate to the fund-raiser by visiting gofundme.com/f/jamie-haughie-funeral.