A Deadly Syndrome is Claiming the Lives of Thousand of Young and Seemingly Healthy People in the UK Every Year.  Sudden Death Syndrome Strikes Them Down Without Warning – and with Fatal Consequences.

Mark Johnson was a happy, healthy sport-loving young man with everything to live for.  With a new business venture lined-up, an adoring family behind him and a girlfriend who loved him, Mark, at 33, had the world at his feet.  He had successfully completed two Ironman races – a triathlon for the fittest of the fit – in Lanzarote in 19997 and 19998.  In October 2000, he died in his sleep.

Mark was a victim of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) which claims the lives of between 4-8 young people in the UK every week.  The majority of young sudden cardiac deaths are due to inherited forms of heart muscle disorder and irregular heart beat.  Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is the commonest of these conditions.  Tragically, the syndrome seems to target youngsters who appear to be supremely fit and even pursuing their careers in sport.  In every case they are unaware of the existing heart condition and the strain of their sporting activities eventually leads to cardiac failure.

Mark’s parents, Eddie and Brenda, of Sheffield, struggle to come to terms with the loss of their only son.  Eddie says, the shock still hits them two years later – their son who “never had a day’s illness in his life” has died and what’s more the coroner could not point the cause of death.  “Unfortunately Mark, he got no warning because there are no symptoms whatsoever,” says Eddie, who spends some of his time at the couple’s home in Puerto del Carmen.  He added: “Mark was a kind, gentle, thoughtful man; a friend to everyone and he was always willing to put other people first.  We will always love him until the day we die, he was a wonderful son.”