The dad of 15-year-old Edinburgh schoolboy who tragically lost his life after collapsing while playing football with his friends says he has renewed his son’s Hearts season ticket for 2023/24.
Andrew MacKinnon lost his life on March 14 as emergency services rushed to the Forrester High School grounds shortly after 3pm but were unable to save the teenager.
Andrew’s dad had described his son as a "really popular boy" who loved his friends and playing football.
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Andy said he felt he had to renew his son’s season ticket as he could not bear the thought of sitting next to a stranger after losing his son earlier this year.
He said: “That’s me renewed both mine and the wee man’s season tickets for next year, can’t have a stranger sitting in his seat.”
Andy received overwhelming support from the Scottish footballing community with many sympathising with the difficult decision the bereaved father had to make.
Following Andrew’s death, tributes poured in from friends, family, and the local community.
St David's Broomhouse Parish Church organised extra seating and speakers outside of his funeral service on March 31 due to the level of mourners that turned out to pay their respects.
During the funeral, Rev Michael Mair paid tribute to Hearts fan Andrew.
As well as a member of Salvesen CFC, young Andrew was also proud and devoted Jambo.
Hearts' official Twitter updated mourners and shared their condolences with the family before the funeral, they said: "The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Andrew's friends and family at this extremely sad time."
As the funeral cortege passed Tynecastle, young mourners set off smoke bombs, sending clouds of blue, red and white (Salvesen colours) into the air while a spontaneous round of applause broke out among the gathered crowd.
When Hearts played St Mirren at Tynecastle on April 8, fans on both sides joined in a touching minute's applause as the game entered its 15th minute.
Andrew’s family have since launched a charity in his name to help underprivileged kids play football.
On the GoFundMe that is trying to raise money to support their goal, Andy wrote: “Hi, my name is Andy and I’m starting this fundraiser off the back of a post I put on Twitter that has went viral with many people asking if they can contribute.
“On the 14th March 2023 my whole world fell apart when my 15 year old son Andrew collapsed and died whilst doing what he loved, playing football.
“Andrew had a heart condition, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, in 2019 he had an ICD (Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) fitted. Andrew never let his condition get him down or affect his daily life. We are all truly devastated at his loss and I will do all I can to keep his memory alive.
“Andrew was passionate about two things in life, football along with his family/friends.
“I have decided to set up the ‘Andrew MacKinnon Football Foundation’ in his memory. The purpose of this will be to ensure that underprivileged children in the local area are able to play football no matter the financial circumstance they may find themselves in. This can come from financial support to help with club fees or even being able to provide necessary equipment (boots, shinguards etc) that I will encourage to be donated by people fortunate enough to be in that position.
“Any monies raised from this fundraiser will be used to cover any start up fees and to provide funds to start supporting children as quickly as possible.
“This fundraiser will run until midday on May the 31st 2023. I’m hoping by that point to have the website up and running where the aim is to have the function to donate directly.
“Many thanks for reading, Andrew’s Dad.”
You can support their GoFundMe here.
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