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A Worcester woman campaigning to
highlight the tragedy of Sudden Death Syndrome has raised £10,000 to buy an
electrocardiogram fro a city doctor's surgery.
Joy Powell set up a Worcester branch
of CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) after her best friend's son, Craig Rampton,
died in December, 1997.
The keen footballer, a former
Kempsey Primary School pupil, died instantly after collapsing on a sports pitch.
He was 20.
It was later discovered he was
suffering from an enlarged heart muscle - a condition known as Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy - which would have been detected by a simple ECG heart scan.
Sudden Death Syndrome is an umbrella
name given to many different causes of heart attacks in young people, who
otherwise seem healthy and fit.
But Mrs Powell says these could be
detected by regular ECG screenings, which would pick up symptoms and, in most
instances, the condition can be controlled by drugs.
She has spend the past 18 months
raising money to buy an ECG scanner for Worcester 'so that all children in
Worcester have the opportunity to be tested'
Campaigns
'It only takes three minutes to save
a life,' said the grandmother-of-six.
'If someone had taken three minutes
to monitor Craig, he'd still be with us today, along with hundreds of youngsters
who shouldn't have died.'
CRY campaigns for ECG testing for
all adolescents, something that is mandatory in the USA and Italy. Its patrons
include world-renowned heart surgeon Professor William McKenna.
Mrs Powell is now looking for a doctor's
surgery in Worcester where the ECG machine can be set up for regular screenings,
which are quick and painless.
She also plans to visit sports clubs
with the machine and test young people with the help of the clubs, who, she
hopes, will hold 'open days' to cover the cost.
Strangely, it is fit youngsters who
are most at risk, as they put more strain on their hearts during physical
activity.
'Sport doesn't cause a heart attack
but it can cause a young person to die suddenly by exacerbating an underlying
problem if this already exists,' said Mrs Powell.
Symptoms to watch out for are
breathlessness, palpitations, dizziness and fainting but the severity of
symptoms vary from person to person.
Grieving
mum's despair
Opinions
Mum's
fear for her two children
With permission from the Evening
News
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