Ryan was just playing his computer, his phone rang, and that was it

Twenty members of a family are being screened after the sudden deaths of a mother and son in similar circumstances – 19 years apart. 

Ryan Hulme of Fenton was just 19 when he died at his home as he answered his mobile phone. 

His mother, Alison died suddenly five weeks after she gave birth to him. 

Pathologists say the cause of Ryan’s death in April, was Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) - a condition which kills up to eight people a week in the UK. 

Family members believe Alison’s death in 1984, which was recorded as bronchitis at her inquest, was also a case of SADS, although the condition was not recognised at the time by medical experts. 

Now Alison’s mother Margaret Banks, aged 59, who has lived through the double trauma, will join about 20 other family members in being screened by medics. 

They have been told by experts that SADS can be hereditary and have been advised to get medical attention to look for any abnormalities in the heart. 

Mrs Banks believes Ryan’s death could have been prevented if she had been screened. 

She said: “We knew nothing.  I believe if Ryan had been screened he would still be alive today.  Now we are going to get screened to see if we have the same condition. 

“A lot of people don’t know what this thing is and we have lost two young people in our family.  It is very difficult for me, it is devastating to think that had we known what we know now then Ryan would still be with us today. 

“Even though the coroner 20 years ago said Alison died of bronchitis I believe, as a result of what I know no, Alison also died of SADS." 

Mrs Banks wants to raise awareness of the condition and warns people to look out for symptoms which include dizziness and fainting. 

Mrs Banks added: "We never thought when we lost Alison that we would lose her child as well.  It is devastating. 

“This is something we have got to do to help and hopefully we will save other people from dying from this disorder.” 

Doctor Giri Rajaratnam, director of public health medicine for the North Staffordshire Health Authority, said SADS was a rare disorder that required a lot more research. 

He said: “It is a difficult issue because there is not a great deal known about it.  It is a very rare thing and only newly recognised. 

“People are still not sure what causes it.” 

 * * *

One minute, 19-year-old Michelin worker Ryan Hulme was playing on his Xbox in his grandfather’s front room. 

The next, after getting up to answer his mobile phone, he was lying dead on the floor of the home in Oldfield Street, Fenton. 

Ryan, a former pupil of Edensor High School, in Longton had become the latest victim of SADS – in circumstances chillingly similar to the death of the woman he knew only as ‘mummy Alison.”

In October 1984, Alison Copeland had been enjoying her first few weeks as a mother. 

She was looking forward to buying a house with husband Gordon and the couple were staying with her parents until the right property came along. 

But one morning Alison, who was aged 20, went back to bed after tending to Ryan.  She died minutes later.  After Alison’s death, her parents Terry and Margaret became legal guardians of Ryan. 

Ryan’s grandmother struggles to come to terms with the same tragedy striking twice and receives counselling once a week. 

She said: “It was like history repeating itself and I just try to get through each day.  It was virtually the same thing happening again. 

“Ryan was just playing his computer, his phone rang, and that was it.” 

She added: “It has been heartbreaking for everyone.  He was just a typical teenager and after he left school he had plans to go to college and was thinking of going into plastering.  I can’t believe it has happened to us twice.” 

Margaret added: “When Alison died it was such a shock and devastating for everybody involved.  As we cared for Ryan we never thought the same thing would happen again to him.

“He called me mum from a young age and it just carried on.  He called his real mother ‘mummy Alison’ and coped with the fact that she wasn’t here very well.  He was always aware his mother had died and as he grew older he wanted to know more about her as a person and would ask questions about her.  I always felt guilty about it while Ryan was growing up, thinking that it should be Alison who heard his first words and been there for all his milestones. 

“But now he is gone as well and I am just stunned.  It is absolutely heartbreaking.” 

Margaret faced further anguish in May when Terry, who she later divorced from, but remained on good terms with, died of liver cancer. 

She added: “When Ryan died, I think he lost his will to live and his condition deteriorated rapidly.  He never came to terms with Alison’s death and Ryan dying left him shattered.  In some ways I have been fortunate because I have re-married and got a stepson, but Terry didn’t re-marry and he had his own private world.”

Margaret has received support from her family and Ryan’s friends who regularly call at her home.  She is also receiving support from CRY, a charity which helps victims of SADS. 

Now Margaret is calling for every person to be screened at the age of 14 to see if they are at risk. 

Margaret said: “I want to raise awareness of what has happened because it could happen to anybody.  Ryan’s friends have distributed leaflets to people to give them information because not a lot of people know about it.  Hopefully we can stop other people from dying because this is something that is preventable.”