A County Antrim woman whose teenage son died from a killer heart disease 18 years ago is urging Ulster parents to put pressure on the Health Minister to introduce compulsory screening for the condition. 

Jaimie Gault was just 15 when he died from cardiomyopathy, a disease which attacks and weakens the heart muscle. 

His mother Margaret, from Ballyclare, said she wants to see all first form pupils screened for the condition. 

"We knew nothing about cardiomyopathy 18 years ago." 

"One day Jaimie just fainted in church.  He'd lost a stone in a week and at 6ft 3in and just 15, that wasn't good," said Mrs Gault.

"We though it was cancer." 

Cardiomyopathy is cited as the biggest cause of sudden deaths among under-35s in Northern Ireland. 

Last week, Health Minister Shaun Woodward agreed to fund a specialist nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital after Newtownards couple Sam and Amanda Graham spoke out about losing their 14-year-old daughter, Rebecca, to the disease last year. 

Mrs Gault said that she had been in touch with the Graham family after reading their story in the News Letter. 

"Amanda feels, and I would agree, that a nurse will be very useful for families coping with this condition," she said. 

"We didn't know our son had it, we only found out after he died." 

"But if someone is aware they have the condition, there are drugs you can take to prolong your life." 

Mrs Gault said that in Italy young people are prevented from doing sport unless they have a certificate showing they have been screened for the disease. 

She said she would like to see a screening unit set up in Northern Ireland which could tour schools, testing every pupil for the condition. 

She and her husband James are involved with charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and last year Jaimie featured in a postcard campaign to raise awareness of cardiomyopathy. 

Mrs Gault said the charity is campaigning to have a screening unit brought over from England in April. 

"Life is very precious," she said. 

"Jaimie would have been 34 next month, and when you read things and hear about another family, it just brings it all back.  It never goes away."      

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