Grandmother's drive to raise heart awareness

A grandmother whose 15-year-old grandson died of a rare heart condition will highlight a charity campaign which could save the lives of other youngsters. 

The ‘heartbreaking’ sudden death of schoolboy David Harry left his family devastated.  Grandmother Lorraine Bentham, of Chester Road, Flint, has met Delyn MP David Hanson and AM Sandy Mewies, as they give their support to the campaign by charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young.)

Doreen Harley, North Wales and Chester Divisional Representative of CRY, who lost her own daughter through an undetected heart problem, is urging more monitoring of young people to identify those at risk. 

David was the son of Mrs Bentham’s daughter, who once lived in Flint.  David spent lots of time with his grandparents, Lorraine and Brian. 

Mrs Bentham said David died two years ago last October.  Tracy was living in New Earswick, near York, at the time with second husband Ian Way and children James, 20, Amy, 14 and Ryan, six. 

One morning David just did not wake up when his mother called him to go to school.  His brother James shouted and when there was no response she rushed into his bedroom and found him dead.  She tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 

“It was like a cot death.  Poor James was just standing there in shock.  It just makes me sick to think about it and what she went through," said Mrs Bentham. 

After being told by the police about the death she and her husband had to drive to York, not knowing what had happened. 

“It was the worst journey of my life, we didn’t know how he had died, it was a living nightmare," said Mrs Bentham. 

“David was one of those happy-go-lucky lads, he would walk into a room and it would light up, he was so funny.” 

A post-mortem examination showed he had suffered sudden young cardiac death.  The rest of the family were checked and found to be OK. 

In the Yorkshire village where the family live, David’s school friend died 12 months earlier from the same heart condition; he too was just 15.  Since then the village has raised money for the charity CRY. 

David Hanson said: “We often think of heart problems as being associated with older people, but this excellent campaign by CRY reminds us that young people too can suffer from a range of heart conditions, which are potentially fatal. 

“I think it is vital there is better screening for high risk families and people are made aware of the possible risks so that they go to get checked out.” 

Sandy Mewies said: “It is amazing that seven out of 79 young people, aged 14 to 35, screened by CRY in their last campaign had a cardiac condition which they didn’t know about.  And cases like the tragic death of Mrs Bentham’s grandson highlight how important that screening could be. 

"There are at least eight deaths a week from sudden young cardiac death and whilst people should not be alarmed, they should also be aware that if they are in a family which has a history of heart problems then it is worth getting screened." 

Mr Hanson added: “I want to congratulate CRY and everyone involved in their campaign.  Thanks to hem, local representatives like me and Sandy Mewies are becoming much more aware of this important issue.”