fundraising mum
provides new heart monitor for hospital
A
mum whose fiancé died suddenly while playing in a football match has
helped to fund a piece of equipment she hopes will prevent such a tragedy
happening again.
Kay
Linnington, 28, has donated the heart monitor to the Horton Hospital
in Banbury.
She
has raised more than £7,000 since her partner Ian Willoughby died of
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome playing for Hook Norton in 2000.
The
device, a cardiac event recorder, is attached to the patient over 24 hours
to check heart irregularities and can help detect the condition before it
becomes serious.
“We
heard that the hospital was in great need of a monitor so I’m really
pleased to be able to send it some where it will be appreciated” said
Miss Linnington, of Chipping Norton.
She
has already donated one of the recorders to the West End Surgery in
Chipping Norton.
“Raising
the money made it easier to cope after Ian died because we were doing
something for other people to stop it happening again”
The
couple’s five year old daughter Hannah has a 50 per cent chance of
developing the condition in later years.
Dr
Ian Arnold, a consultant cardiologist at the Horton,said “We are
Grateful
for what they have done and we are delighted that they thought of us.
“It
will enable us to investigate more people and it will help us detect
worrying heart rhythm problems before they become too serious”
The
money was raised through the Ian Willoughby Memorial Fund,
Which
Miss Linnington set up following Ian’s death.
The
fundraising was carried out in conjunction with Cardiac Risk in The Young
(CRY), a national charity which is campaigning to raise awareness about a
variety of heart conditions. This
includes Sudden Adult Death Syndrome which strikes down seemingly healthy
young people, and is believed to be the cause of four to eight deaths a
week in Britain.
Miss
Linnington thanked everyone who contributed and helped organise the
events, which included discos and race nights.
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