A heart health campaigner has announced that she hopes to offer every secondary school child in Tendring a free heart screening within the next year.

Caroline Gard, of Glebe Way, Frinton, has announced her intention to offer every secondary school pupil in the district an ECG (electrocardiogram) test, which can detect undiagnosed hereditary heart faults in the young, within the next 12 months. 

Mrs Gard has been working with charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) since her apparently healthy son, Andrew Gard, died from Sudden Death Syndrome just days before his 18th birthday. 

Screenings at Colne school and Tendring Technology College have tested 700 students so far this year, and dates have been set to visit Clacton County High School in January. 

Mrs Gard said she will then approach Colbayns and Harwich schools to set up ECG sessions.  The school visits typically take two days, screening hundreds of students, with a full medical team and equipment. 

She hopes the testers will be able to visit Colbayns around next Easter, and Harwich next October, in a year's time. 

The tests are funded by cash raised in Andrew Gard's memory, with charity CRY making up the shortfall in funds. 

Mrs Gard urged young people to take up the offer of a free test in the schools. 

She said: "I don't know if an ECG test would have saved my son's life. 

"I have lost my own son, and become part of a network of bereavement supporters.  Every time you speak to a parent who has gone through the same thing, it is awful. 

"I believe that it is important for young people to get their hearts screened because the conditions are often symptomless.  In fact, the first symptom can be sudden death." 

She stressed that if heart defects are found, they can be treated or managed. 

She said: "We have found people in the past who are now living with a condition and managing it. 

"It is better that you know about it, and you can get it checked out." 

Pupils at schools where the checks are offered will be given information about the procedure and then given a permission form to take home.  The checks are carried out during the school day, and follow-up checks can often be done at the same time, if necessary. 

More information on CRY can be found at www.c-r-y.org.uk

CRY's next public heart screening clinic will take place at Colchester Hospital on October 18. 

It is open to anyone aged between 14 and 35, and costs £35 per person. 

The clinic will run from 9am to 1pm, and time slots can be booked online at www.c-r-y.org.uk or by calling 01737 363 222.