THE Hussey family, and their son Leon, should have been looking forward to a happy new year.

Leon, a former Larkmead School pupil, was due to start a new job as a chef at a pub in Abingdon on Saturday, January 2, and so was on the verge of starting a new chapter in his life.

Unfortunately that and the lives of his family have been torn asunder following his death just hours after he had been celebrating the start of a new decade.

His mother Mandy says paramedics said heroin may be involved, although a post mortem examination has yet to be held and a police investigation must take place to determine exactly what happened.

But if heroin was involved, then we hope that others will take heed of the words of his mother.

This drug ruins and takes lives.

The Hussey family has been devastated by the loss of a son they described as sweet and kind.

And more than 380 people have also added their tributes to Leon on the social networking site Facebook.

If that is not testament to the tragedy such events cause and does not make more people stop and think, then we do not know what will.