Parents call for heart tests to become statutory must for all teenagers

The death of someone close to you is always hard to cope with. 

But when your healthy 18-year-old son suddenly dies of a heart attack, it’s not just grief that you feel. 

When the Dougherty family, from Richard Street in Barry, lost James this time last year they were stunned and confused – how could he have just dropped dead in his bedroom?

That’s why his father Richard and mother Patricia are throwing their support behind the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) postcard campaign – to make heart checks a statutory must for all teenagers. 

Richard, aged 48, said: “James was supremely fit, very popular and an extremely lovely young man with many friends and a bright future as a chef – the only career he had ever wanted. 

“A few days before his death he’d been complaining of a sore throat, but thought nothing of it. 

“On the day he died, Saturday, February 13 – he’d jogged up to the College Inn, where he worked part-time and was feeling ok. 

“When I came in to the house James was lying on the settee and he looked a bit off-colour. 

“But he was going out with some friends that night and when one of them arrived, they grabbed a can of lager each and went up to his room. 

“His mobile phone started to ring and his sister took it upstairs to him.  As she got to his bedroom, she started screaming. 

“James was on the floor, with his pupils fixed and dilated.  I tried emergency CPR until the ambulance arrived,” explained Richard. 

“They took him to Llandough hospital and carried on trying to revive him, but he was already dead. 

“We found out last week that he had a virus that attacked his lungs and caused a cardiac arrest. 

“We’ve had all the checks and it isn’t a genetic condition, as many of them are. 

“While our story is not typical of those involved in CRY, we support their calls to the government to make health checks for young people compulsory. 

“If there is a problem that can be picked up before it becomes fatal, and if it can stop just one family going through the heartache we are suffering, it will be worth it. 

“This year has been hard,” said Richard. 

“We’ve had all our ‘firsts’ – members of the family’s birthdays, Christmas. 

“I expected them all to be extremely difficult but the days were pretty much the same as all the others without him – they’re all hard to bear.” 

Cardiac Risk in the Young – CRY – was founded in May 1995 by Alison Cox. 

She said: “For four years, the head office was based in a private home but as the charity grew, so did its need for more staff, presentation materials, printing equipment and storage facilities. 

“CRY also needed space in which to counsel families and meet people who could help promote the work of a new charity. 

“Our nationwide volunteer base, our services and fundraising projects continue to expand.” 

Richard added: “There are postcards all around town for people to fill in and send to their MP to add support to our call. 

“They’re in certain doctors’ surgeries, St Helen’s Church and the Barry and District News in Holton Road. 

“Please support this campaign.  It will save lives.”