A heartbroken widow hopes to become a teacher after her husband’s tragic death sparked an unexpected career change.

Julie Chipperfield-Carr and her husband Eamonn ran a catering firm before he died of a heart condition aged just 24 in September 2000.

Now Julie is studying for GCSEs in sociology and psychology and then wants to become a special needs teacher after taking more exams in the future.

“I couldn’t have gone back to catering because we always did that together and it would have been too hard,” she said.

“Once I got over the shock of Eamonn’s death, I realised I wanted to put something back into the community.”

Julie, 32, from Kings Heath, is taking adult education courses and will sit her exams in the next two months.

She was devastated when Eamonn collapsed and died at the wheel of his car soon after setting off on his daily sandwich delivery round.

He regularly used to play football and even enjoyed a round of golf just three days before his death.

Tests showed Eamonn died of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart. The condition is one of eleven major causes of Sudden Death Syndrome in young people which is estimated to claim eight lives each week in the UK.

Julie and her sister Teresa Mulhearn have raised more than £1000 for the charity CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young.