A mother whose teenage air cadet son collapsed and died is urging young people from across Dudley to take advantage of a free health screening programme which could save their lives.

Benita Davies, an auxillary nurse at Russell's Hall Hospital, was left devastated when son Paul collapsed outside school in 1999 at just 16 years old. 

His condition was described as Sudden Death Syndrome, which has also claimed the lives of Motherwell FC captain Phil O'Donnell and Spanish International defender Antonio Puerta.

Medical experts believe an ECG screening may have saved Paul's life.  Soon after, one of Paul's elder sisters, Nicola, also collapsed while on holiday in Magaluf, Spain, but tests showed that she and her brother, as well as her mum, all carried the same hereditary condition which can be diagnosed following simple procedures. 

Nicola has since been fitted with an implanted cardioverter defibrillator, similar to a pacemaker, which Mrs. Davies said may well have saved her life. 

Mrs Davies, of Crowther Gardens Cradley, is now part of a five-strong group of mothers from across the Black Country who have all lost children and have helped to raise £6,000 to pay for a free screening day in Stourbridge on Sunday. 

Paul was a former Cradley High School pupil who was studying mechanics at Dudley College at the time of his death and was a cadet with the 223 Halesowen Sqn Air Training Corp. 

Mrs Davies said: "I would rather people be told that nothing was wrong because I just don't want to read another story like Paul's.  It just shouldn't happen." 

Symptoms of the disease include exercise related chest pain, severe breathlessness, palpitations, prolonged dizziness, fainting and blackouts. 

Heart disease is the most common cause of an unexpected sudden death in all ages groups.  In the middle aged or elderly, heart disease is usually due to furring or blockages of the blood vessels that supply the heart. 

But in younger people and in children theirs is frequently due to something other than coronary artery disease. 

Some of these conditions can be detected very simply through an ECG, a painless, non-invasive test that takes just a few minutes to perform. 

Ideally every teenager should have an ECG when they reach puberty as the heart muscle enlarges after a growth spurt. 

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) will be offering free ECG testing for all young people aged between 14 and 35 at the Stourbridge Health and Medical Centre. 

To book, log on to www.mybookingcalendar.com/cry and click on March or call 07501 763 085. 

Previous events in Longbridge, Northfield and Tamworth have been a huge success with around 10 per cent of people being referred for further testing. 

CRY offers help, support and counselling to families and holds ECG screening clinics at a number of locations around the UK.  Log on to www.c-r-y.org.uk

Tragic toll of the hidden time bomb  

Facts about Sudden Death Syndrome:

Experts estimate that around eight apparently fit and healthy young people, aged under 35, die from undiagnosed heart problems every week. 

The most common cause of sudden death is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM), where heart muscles are excessively thick. 

HCM is a hereditary disease. 

A painless, non-invasive ECG can detect problems in the heart.

Supporters of Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) include honorary president Ian Botham OBE, comedian David Walliams, Sir Steve Redgrave CBE and popular sports presenter John Inverdale.