All-Britain campaign will help save lives

Postcards showing people who have died from sudden cardiac problems are to be released every month to highlight the need for screening in families particularly at risk. 

Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) has launched its postcard campaign, with the backing of Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant and MP Mark Tami.

CRY is a national charity raising awareness of potentially genetic cardiac abnormalities in young people under 35, offering bereavement support for families and promoting screening for those at risk. 

Under the new scheme, a postcard will be launched every month, portraying victims from 12 different regions across Britain. 

All of the eight victims picture on the Welsh postcard, including Lisa Browne from Flintshire, had no apparent symptoms or history of bad health.  Yet it’s widely acknowledged that many of the hundreds of sudden deaths that occur every year in Britain could be prevented if simple cardiac screening was made more accessible. 

Pictured on the postcard for Wales is Doreen Harley’s eldest daughter, Lisa Jane Browne, who died in January 1998 aged 27. 

Cardiologists believe Lisa died from Long QT Syndrome, an electrical abnormality of the heart which cannot be detected after death. 

It appears that Lisa died when startled by the sudden noise of her alarm clock. 

Since Lisa’s death, her family have all been screened.  Her father Terry, sister Rachel, and nephew have all been diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, Lisa’s nephew Adam, is still awaiting DNA test results to see if he too has the condition. 

Doreen said: “If Lisa had been offered an ECG test, it is more than likely that she would still be alive today. 

“CRY’s ultimate aim is to bet an ECG offered to all teenagers around the age of 14.  Many of the conditions that cause Sudden Young Cardiac Death are treatable if diagnosed.  We get an MOT done on our cards, which should we not be able to have our children cardiac tested?  Screening has been proven to save lives.” 

Doreen Harley is the Divisional Representative for North Wales and Chester for the charity. 

Over the past 18 months, Doreen has organised CRY screenings at the Beaufort Park Hotel in Mold. 

A total of 79 people between the ages of 14 and 35 were screened.  Of those, seven were diagnosed with a cardiac condition of which they were not aware. 

All of the cardiac conditions that can cause Sudden Young Cardiac Death are treatable if diagnosed, and the individual can then lead a relatively normal life. 

Find out more about Long QT Syndrome