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Random health tests which could save lives are to
be carried out in memory of a Birmingham schoolgirl who died suddenly from
'adult cot death.'
Relatives of Alison Linforth have raised enough
cash to test young people and protect them from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome
(SADS), which claimed the life of the 16-year-old on her first ay at new
college.
Parents John and Evelyn Linforth , of Greatstone
Road, Northfield, have campaigned tirelessly for routine heart tests and zre
now holding two sessions, including one at the church where Alison
worshipped.
People aged between 16 and 36 will go to Long
bridge Methodist Churchy, in Bristol Road South, next year for an
electrocardiogram heart test (ECG).
The test can detect heart abnormalities which
cause SADS before tragedy strikes.
Mrs Linforth, aged 49 and a carer at Birmingham
Children's Hospital, said: "The tests will be in Alison's memory and we hope
to test up to 150 people at two sessions a year.
"One will be in the church Alison went to and
another will be somewhere in Tamworth. We have doctors who check
images of the heart and refer patients with abnormalities to their GP.
"Last year we did a session in Sutton Coldfield
and ten per cent of the 110 visitors were referred."
Charity Cardiac Risk in the Young has teamed up
with couple.
Alison of Kingswood Road, Longbridge , died at
Cadbury Sixth Form College, in Kings Norton, in September 2003.
An inquest into the former pupils at Colmers Farm
School, in Rubery , heard SADS may have been caused by an extremely rare
electrical abnormality with the with the heart that would only have been
identified by an EGG heart test.
Facts about SADS
Sudden Adult Death Syndrome is diagnosed when
death occurs unexpectedly and kills around 120 people in the UK every year.
It is believed to be caused by a disturbance in
the heart's rhythm.
To contact Charity Cardiac Risk in the Young
phone 01737 363 222.
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