Thank you for saving my girl

A mother last night thanked the Daily post for saving her daughter’s life.

Rachel Willn was diagnosed with a killer gene after her mother sent her our report on how another North Wales family had been struck by a curse which led to 16 deaths.

Rachel, 29, went for tests and it was discovered she too was carrying a gene which could have killed her.  Just four years ago her sister Lisa Jane Browne, a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, was found dead in her bed from a heart abnormality caused by the same gene.

Last night, their mother, Doreen Harley, said: ”This Daily Post article saved Rachel’s life.  People who are diagnosed with this are the lucky ones because they get the chance to be treated.  If they don’t it can result in sudden death.”

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A woman has discovered that she has the same rogue gene which killed her sister four years ago.  However, doctors can treat Rachel Willn, 29, and she can now lead a normal life.

Her mother Doreen Harley urged Rachel to have tests after she read a report in the Daily Post about another North Wales family who had suffered 16 deaths from a mystery illness.  The tests showed she had the same condition which killed her sister, Lisa Jane Browne.

Lisa, a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital, was found dead in bed by her husband.  She was just 27.

A post mortem found no reason for the death but Lisa almost certainly had Long QT Syndrome, an electrical rhythm fault in the heart.

Mrs Harley, of Connah’s Quay, said: “Rachel was diagnosed two weeks ago as having Long QT Syndrome, the abnormality which killed my daughter Lisa Jane Browne in January 1998.

“After Lisa died, my husband Terry and myself went to St George’s Hospital in London for screening and we found that Terry had Long QT Syndrome.

“Rachel was heavily pregnant at the time and decided not to go for screening.  Over the next two years, I think she buried her head in the sand and hoped it would go away.

“Then my husband had a letter from St George’s Hospital and said that they had found this genetic abnormality in the genes for QT and said it might be useful information for my daughter and our grandchildren.

“The Daily Post then ran a story about Neil Halliday, of St Asaph, and all the members of his family who had died suddenly very young.”

Mrs Harley sent a copy of the article to daughter Rachel, 29, also a nurse.

“Neil’s niece had suffered blackouts and it turned out that Rachel had suffered similar blackouts twice.  She had been in bed and woke up suddenly to answer the telephone and twice blacked out.

“After she read the cutting and saw a documentary about the Sudden Death Syndrome problem, she contacted St George’s Hospital and agreed to screening.

“I know Rachel was frightened, but we do not want to alarm people, we want to alert people.  We cannot emphasise enough that if there has been a sudden unexplained death in a family of someone under 35, they should think about screening.”

With medication such as beta-blockers, Rachel will be able to lead a nearly normal life.

Find the facts

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) is a charity, which provides medical information on the most common causes of unexpected deaths of young people.

Doreen Harley is the divisional representative of the charity for North Wales.  The charity’s patrons include Sir Steven Redgrave and Ian Botham.

To help raise funds for CRY, Les Holleron, a chartered surveyor who now lectures at North East Wales Institute in Wrexham, will be running the London marathon and is looking for sponsorship.  Les, 54, married with a son, is helping the charity because of his work with young people.

Anyone who can help with the sponsorship can contact Doreen Harley through CRY.