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The Dedicated charity efforts of a
Worcester woman are set to save young people's lives after she raised enough
money to buy an electrocardiogram (ECG) for a city doctor's surgery.
Joy Powell decided to raise the
money needed to buy the piece of equipment after her best friend's son collapsed
and died suddenly while playing football in December 1997.
Craig Rampton, a 20-year-old former
Kempsey Primary school pupil, died from a condition which falls under the
umbrella of Sudden Death Syndrome.
It was discovered he had suffered
from an enlarged heart muscle know as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition
which could have been detected by an ECG heart scan. Support for Joy's project
came from the charity group CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) who work to raise
awareness of how Sudden Death Syndrome can affect people who appear fit and
healthy.
The grandmother of six spent two
years raising the money for the ECG through raffles, discos and jumble sales
across Worcester and she is now hoping the piece of equipment can be used to
detect heart defects in young people.
'If Craig had had an ECG then I
believe he would have been alive today,' said Joy.
'And even though the piece of
equipment is expensive, the cost is irrelevant in comparison to the many lives
it could save.
'By setting up screening sessions
for not only those who play sport but also people aged around 14 to 35, then
hopefully we can take the measures needed to prevent a tragedy like Craig's.'
Joy added the people of Worcester
had given her great support in raising the money for the ECG, particularly Lower
Broadheath Primary School which had donated £1,000.
She said her next step was to
approach a doctor's surgery in Worcester to house and run the ECG followed by a
campaign to make testing compulsory for people in Britain.
With permission from the Evening
News
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