Matthew was an extremely well-liked boy - popular amongst his numerous friends and much loved by his parents Chris and Tina, brothers Peter (now 17), Michael (14), Anthony (11) and his sister Ellen (7).

His parents have kindly agreed to share the story of what happened to their son in the hope that young people like you will think twice before trying drugs. This is Matthew's story...

One Sunday last Spring, Matthew went for a barbecue in the park with some friends only to return complaining of stomach pains. Later that day he started being sick - his parents thought he had food poisoning… Despite feeling poorly, Matthew continued the next day with his jobs - an evening shift at the Royal Mail and carrying out gardening odd-jobs for his family.

Matthew continued feeling under the weather and his parents warned him that he was burning the candle at both ends - working so hard during the day, keeping up with homework and spending the evenings with his girlfriend, but then odd symptoms started creeping in as the week progressed - his speech slurred, he felt increasingly sick and the following Sunday, having come home early from a party, he was disorientated and couldn't walk straight. It was at this point that his worried parents called an ambulance and when the paramedics attended Matthew admitted that he had recently started taking steroids. Understandably, Matthew's parents were very angry and disappointed as they couldn't understand why their son had chosen to take drugs.

Matthew's dad Chris explains: "I think many young lads, like Matthew, see steroids as a 'supplement' rather than a 'drug'. He must have known it was wrong to not tell us about it, but he was so desperate to become a Marine I guess he wrongly thought it as the only way of getting the six-pack and the biceps he wanted.

"Much is publicised about the pressures placed on teenage girls to stay slim and be body-beautiful, but boys too are bombarded with images of muscle-bound male models every time they open a magazine. Despite his impressive fitness levels, Matthew believed he needed to bulk up his muscles to look the part. "Therefore, when he had the opportunity to buy some steroids, Matthew handed over £40 to an acquaintance at his gym and in return he got a supply of tablets along with detailed instructions on how to build up his dosage over the subsequent weeks."

After the ambulance took Matthew to hospital, he was kept under observation before being discharged the following morning. He spent the day lying on the sofa at home and Matthew's mum Tina recalls thinking they'd had a lucky escape. She said: "We had some strong words with him and I was thanking my lucky stars because we thought he'd got away with it." However, things took a dreadful turn for the worse later that day when Matthew lost his sight and so the family rang 999 again…

Matthew went into the critical care unit at the hospital where his condition kept going up and down. Chris said: "He had agonising stomach pains and it was a terrible hearing my boy crying in pain and not being able to make him better."

Over the next couple of days, Matthew became irritable and restless and had to be sedated in order to keep him calm and settled. As the days went on and further tests were carried out, it transpired that Matthew was fitting and his brain was swelling. One week after being admitted his parents, who had not left his bedside all week, made the heartbreaking decision to let doctors withdraw all medication. Sadly, Matthew died on Monday 20th April 2009, with his mum and dad at his bedside.

Chris said: "I don't think kids realise just how much they mean to their parents and families - they are our life, our world. Even if you don't think of your own health when you decide to dabble in drugs, I'd urge you to think of the pain you'd cause to those you'd leave behind should anything go wrong.

"Steroids shouldn't cause any harm, but some people can suffer a bad reaction and you can never guess who will be affected. Matthew didn't have any allergies, he was really healthy and yet this has happened. I'd ask you to consider before taking any drugs, is it worth the risk that they don't agree with you either?"

Tina added: "Matthew didn't need to change for us and I doubt we'll be able to change the minds of those already taking or selling steroids, but we truly hope that by sharing our story, we might make someone think twice about taking the risk of starting to take drugs. It's impossible for me to stress how important this message is, but anyone faced with the dilemma of 'should I or shouldn't I try drugs?' I'd ask you to remember Matthew's story, then ask yourself again..."