Parents of JJ pay tribute to their lovely little boy

Jun 10 2009 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

THE PARENTS of a schoolboy who was knocked down and killed just yards from his home have paid tribute to the “cheeky” youngster.

John Heneghan, seven, known locally as JJ, died after he stepped into the road and into the path of a Mitsubishi Shogun 4x4.

His father, also called John, told how he cradled his dying son in the street as his life ebbed away.

The youngster had been returning home to Sceptre Place, Elswick, in Newcastle’s West End with his cousin Ellie, also seven, on Sunday evening when tragedy struck.

When the alarm was raised, dad John, 36, raced to help, and nursed his son in his arms.

And last night he relived the ordeal.

He said: “There was a high-top taxi, and he couldn’t see over it so he walked out into the road.

“I found him, and I can’t describe how he looked. I didn’t want my wife to see him, but I was too hysterical to call the ambulance.

“It’s ripped our lives to bits. He had everything he could want and now he’s gone, he was such a lovely little boy.

“I just want people to know his mam and dad loved him to pieces.”