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Dad saw son die on
pitch
IT’S now 24 years ago
but it’s a day that still haunts Roy Ball who watched his only son
collapse and die in front of him during a football match.
Soccer mad Andrew Ball
was 16 and playing in a Birmingham Sunday league game when he simply
keeled over. He was
pronounced dead within minutes of being rushed to hospital.
“I was the match
linesman and I’d just shouted at him for showing off in front of his
girlfriend rather than playing properly,” said Roy, a retired
67-year-old Hackney Carriage driver from Harborne, who has three
daughters.
“As a parent it’s
something you never get over, you relive the horror over and over again in
your mind.”
The Shenley Court
schoolboy was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy or Sudden Death Syndrome – a
medical condition which thickens the heart muscle.
Today, Andrew’s young
face is part of a new national campaign to highlight the tragic condition.
His image and seven other
young faces appear on a postcard launched today by the charity Cardiac
Risk in the Young.
Screening
Supporters want the
postcards sent back to MPs across the country urging them to support the
campaign for better screening.
Three other victims from
Birmingham are:
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Jennifer Pearce, aged
19, from Harborne, who died suddenly last October while studying at
Manchester University.
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Alison Linforth, aged
16, from Longbridge who collapsed and died after starting her A-level
studies at Cadbury Sixth Form College last October.
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Paul
Davies, also 16, of Halesowen, who died after coming off his bike.
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Postcards
of tragedy