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 Former Somerset and England cricket legend Ian Botham
is in Yeovil later today (Thursday) to receive a cheque for £7,000 from staff
at the Goldenstones Pools and Leisure Centre on behalf of CRY – the charity
Cardiac Risk in the Young.
Martock schoolgirl Sarah Louise
Williamson, eight, died suddenly from natural causes during a swimming lesson at
the centre nearly three years ago.
The pool’s lifeguards decided to
turn the tragedy into positive action in her memory by raising enough money to
buy a heart-screening cardiograph machine.
Fundraising activities included an
auction of promises, a sponsored swim by children of the pool’s ‘swim
school’ - many of whom were present the day Sarah Louise died, face painting
at local fetes and people taking part in the London Marathon.
Enough money has now been collected
and the ECG machine will soon be used to check all sport minded young people in
South Somerset for irregular heart defects in a bid to avoid further tragedy.
Botham, a former pupil of Milford
Junior School and Buckler's Mead School in Yeovil, has agreed to receive the
cheque on behalf of CRY this afternoon.
He will be taking time out from his
busy book signing schedule to visit Goldenstones after the Centre’s assistant
manager, Jay Lewin, a school friend of Botham’s during their time at
Buckler’s Mead. phoned his wife Kathy to see if he could help.
Jay said: “Kathy looked through
his diary and said November 8 would be ideal as he is in Yeovil in any case with
his book signing.
“I have always said I wouldn’t
abuse my friendship with Ian but when CRY told me it didn’t know who to invite
to receive the cheque I thought I would give it a go.
“We and CRY are thrilled to have
someone like Ian to come and receive the cheque because he is such a sporting
hero and has done a lot of work for children’s charities in the past such as
leukemia.”
Jay added
“He was a very good and caring friend of mine at school - although he
would play a lot of pranks, especially in math’s lessons!”
CRY was founded in 1995 to help
families who have suffered the loss of a young one through ‘sudden death
syndrome.’
It is also committed to raising
awareness, giving out medical information on the heart condition’s that can
sometimes result in a
 youngster’s sudden death, supporting research and
campaigning for a national screening programme.
CRY will
present the ECG machine to the Hendford Lodge Surgery in Yeovil. The chairman of
South Somerset District Council, Cllr Hazel Merrifield, will hand it over to
doctors on November 26 in the presence of Sarah Louise’s parents, Sharon and Lewis,
and lifeguards.
A plaque on the machine will
bear the inscription ‘Donated by Goldenstones Leisure Centre in Memory of
Sarah Louise Williamson.’
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