THE heartbroken family of a schoolboy who died from a suspected heart attack during a lunchtime break have revealed his tragic last words.
Ryan Heffernan, 12, was described as "kind-hearted" and "full of life" on a fund-raising website set up on behalf of his devastated parents Mike and Catherine.
The schoolboy died on Monday after he collapsed at around 1.20pm on a field at Shoeburyness High School in Essex.
His identity has not been officially released.
However a gofundme page set up by a friend stated that it wanted to raise money to help his parents Mike and Catherine with the cost of his funeral.
The page reads: "Monday morning he left for school healthy and happy saying "I love you" to his family (This was the last thing he said to them).
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"He was only in his first year of senior school, a year 7 student on his lunch break when he was sadly taken."
The GoFundMe page was set up last night and has raised almost £12,000 in Ryan's memory – surpassing the initial target of £5,000.
Well-wishers have also paid tributes to Ryan on the page.
Sara Speller wrote: "Absolutely devastating for the family. Sending all my love to them. Rest in peace beautiful young man. Xx"
Corrine Waylen added: "I'm so sorry for your loss! I can't imagine the pain you must be going through. Thoughts are with you and your family"
Emergency services, including an air ambulance, descended on the school on Monday after receiving reports of a medical emergency.
Sadly, Ryan was later confirmed to have died.
Essex Police launched an investigation into his death which they last night described as "unexplained" while ruling out any third-party involvement.
A spokesperson for the force said: "Our enquiries are ongoing, but we do not believe anyone else was involved in this incident.
"We are treating this as an unexplained, non-suspicious death. No one has been arrested."
Clare Costello, headteacher of Shoeburyness High School, said in a letter to parents on Monday that no other individuals were involved in the boy's death.
Ms Costello wrote: "At lunchtime today there was a medical issue involving one child; no other individuals were involved."
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The letter said that specialist support would be in place for children, who would be spoken to about the situation by their tutors.
Further correspondence from the school to local councillors reportedly stated that the boy had suffered a heart attack.
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