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Laura Moss, 13, was an Olympic hopeful swimmer
when she collapsed and died at a school swimming competition.
Another case of sudden death syndrome. Her mother Gloria, of
Weymouth, Dorset, tells the story of the tragedy and how a simple medical
test could have saved her life.
Laura was an athlete, superbly fit and
never ill. She ate well,
slept well and although she was in training as a swimmer, she didn’t
over-train; as parents, we made sure of that.
Laura was going to represent her country
for the first time in April and she was so proud.
The day before her funeral her England colours arrived. We buried them with her.
If you had to choose what to have in a
perfect daughter, Laura would have fulfilled all the criteria.
Not just because she was a talented swimmer, but because she was
such a sweet, vivacious kid.
She was good at everything; she was
artistic, she was musical and she was in the top stream at school for
every subject. She never gave
us any trouble, she was the easiest person in the world to get along with
and she was always thinking of others.
After she died we realised just how much
people thought of her, the letters and cards poured in from all around
Britain, I even had a letter from a mother in France whose deaf daughter
had swum alongside Laura in a race. Laura
had tapped the girl’s side when the starter gun went off so that she
wouldn’t be left behind. That
was typical of Laura.
I saw Laura die and I tried to save her.
She was swimming for her school, Wey valley, in a competition which
was really a gentle stroll for someone of her talent.
I had taken her along and was in the
spectator’s gallery when someone told me:
“Laura has fainted”.
I rushed down to the poolside and I knew immediately that it was
something much more serious. I
watched as Laura took three deep breaths and then died.
At first I was stunned, but I am a theatre
nurse and I quickly went into work mode.
I was desperately looking around for anything, oxygen, a warm
blanket, people to help her, even though I knew in my heart it was too
late.
I started to give her mouth to mouth until
someone pulled me off. I have
since learnt that the only thing which might have saved her was a
defibrillation machine which could perhaps have kick-started her heart
back into action. But of course, there was nothing like that there – perhaps
there should’ve been.
By the time the ambulance had arrived my
husband had been collected from home by one of the coaches.
We stood there; we were hysterical – watching as they worked on
her.
When we got to Dorchester Hospital several
of the top doctors were there and they desperately tried to bring her
back. At one point I went
into room where they were working, I just wanted to be with my little
girl, but I could see it was all over.
Laura was pronounced dead at around 9.30pm, but in reality she died
at about 8.10pm, at the side of the pool.
I can’t put into words the shock and the
agony of such a sudden loss.
If Laura had been ill, or even off-colour,
then we could have perhaps rationalised what happened to her but the fact
was, this super-fit, healthy, joyous little girl was suddenly dead for no
reason that anyone could explain to us.
No one seemed to know what had caused it.
The doctors were at a loss; one suggested a heart attack but I knew
that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t until the coroner dropped off an information pack
from CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young), two weeks after Laura died, that it
all made sense.
We learned so much in a short space of
time. Laura’s death, for
example, was a completely classic way for a victim of Sudden Death
Syndrome to die: the fact that she looked slightly confused for a few
seconds before collapsing – that was her brain beginning to shut down;
the fact that she couldn’t be resuscitated; the electric current which
keeps the heart beating steadily had gone haywire overloading the heart
with confusing messages. The
heart had literally shut down, like a light switch going off.
But perhaps the hardest thing to come to
terms with was the realisation that if Laura had had proper heart
screening her condition would probably have been detected and she could be
alive today. We do feel angry
about this because we believe that, as parents of a top athlete, we
should’ve been told of the risk.
When Laura was picked to join the Olympic
2000 squad we were told that a medical was optional – and of course we
took her to the GP, where she was pronounced fit and healthy.
But if we had been told about the risk of Sudden Death Syndrome, we
would have made sure that Laura had a full heart check even if we had to
pay for it ourselves.
A simple test could have saved her life
We have learnt that the Amateur Swimming
Association knew about Sudden Death Syndrome but decided not to have their
athletes screened. We
believe that since Laura’s death they are making moves to have screening
introduced as quickly as possible – although it is too late for Laura.
We want screening to be introduced for all
children who are involved in competitive sports, as is the case in Italy.
It’s not expensive and it could be done in schools along with the
standard eye and hearing test.
The Government say they won’t act until
there are eight deaths a week from Sudden Death Syndrome and I think that
is an absolutely scandalous attitude to take.
But if they won’t do it, then individual sporting bodies must
accept their responsibility towards their young people and get them
screened. The Lawn Tennis
Association screens its youngsters and so does the Football Association,
so why can’t all sporting bodies?
Heart abnormalities can run in families, so
my husband and I and our two children, Ryan, 11, and Kate, eight, have all
had to be screened. So far it
appears that we are in the clear. But
now my main concern is to try to get the message across to other parents.
If we can prevent one more family from
going through the hell we are suffering then at least Laura won’t have
died for nothing. There are
children out there who are at risk from dying just like Laura did.
In many cases, they will be sporty but plenty of other children are
in danger too. It is
important to realise that.
Laura was a unique little girl. On the Monday after she died, someone left a note to her
stuck on her locket at school. Within
a few minutes the locker was covered with letters so the teachers put up a
board.
By the end of the day that was covered too,
with hundreds of letters and poems. I
would never have known that children could be so eloquent and it is just
heartbreaking to see the effect that her death has had on them.
At the funeral, the church was so packed
that people were standing at the back.
There were people from the ASA, from Millfield public school where
she had been offered a swimming scholarship; the Mayor of Weymouth came
and so did her school teachers.
Five minutes after the funeral ended,
another service was started at the school and that was packed too.
Laura is buried across the road from our
house – I can see her grave from our sitting room window and quite often
I see some of her friends up there, grieving for her. She
is dead now; we can’t do anything for her.
But maybe we can prevent other children from dying far too young.
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