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FAMILIES GATHER
TO UNVEIL STRIKING NEW POSTCARD TO HELP HIGHLIGHT TRAGIC HEART CONDITION
POWERFUL CAMPAIGN PAYS TRIBUTE THE YOUNG
FACES
BEHIND SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH
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Bereaved
families from London and the South East have been joined by MPs from all
parties to launch a nationwide awareness campaign to highlight shocking
new statistics that show the number of young people who lose their lives
from the tragic condition sudden cardiac death now stands at 12 every
week – a staggering 50% rise on previous estimates. |
Other regional
launches of the
CRY '12 a week'
postcard |
The new
figures released by the charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) are
based on official statistics [ONS 2006] citing the cause of
sudden death among people aged 35 and under - and have been analysed by
some of the UK’s leading heart experts, including the charity’s
consultant cardiologist, Dr Sanjay Sharma (Kings College Hospital,
London).
CRY unveiled
the poster-sized version of the new postcard at a moving ceremony
outside the House of Commons (College Green) as “Big Ben” chimed noon.
The symbolic postcard (which was
first launched in 2004
to promote the fact that 8 young deaths were, at the time, estimated
every week) features the photos of 12 young people from London and
the South East who lost their lives suddenly to previously undetected
heart conditions.
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12 sudden cardiac deaths a week
The launch of CRY's new postcard
campaign, College Green, Westminster - 14th October 2008 |
Sudden death syndrome strikes down hundreds of young people – many of
whom were involved in sport – at the prime of their lives. Sport does
not cause this problem - but it can exacerbate an existing undiagnosed
condition and the high risk group is the young.
It is
now widely accepted that screening saves lives. CRY is committed to
encouraging greater access to its cardiac testing for all groups and
individuals (but especially those involved in sport at ‘grass-roots
level) to detect conditions that might otherwise go undiagnosed
Chief
Executive and Founder of the charity, Alison Cox MBE, says; “We feel
– as we head towards 2012 – it is time re-launch this powerful campaign
to help emphasise the importance of screening and the fact that so many
of these tragic cases affecting fit and healthy young people could have
been prevented. These 12 faces are just a “snap-shot” of the problem and
we need to keep up the pressure and engage support from as many MPs as
possible to ensure we can prevent other families from experiencing
similar tragedies.”
A
major Parliamentary Reception will also take place later this week
(Wednesday October 15th) – where a giant ‘white-board’ will be unveiled
by Olympian and CRY Patron, James Cracknell* OBE – and will act as a
high profile symbol for the charity until 2012. The life sized
‘petition’ has been signed by a number of leading sports personalities,
pundits including, Sir Steve Redgrave, Paula Radcliffe, Sir Ian Botham,
Tim Henman and Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff.
Alison adds; “Our original postcard
campaign was tremendously successful and resulted in hundreds of MPs
being targeted with details of our campaigning activity as well as the
‘hard’, shocking facts about sudden cardiac death. In fact, over 100
have since added their support by joining the
Cardiac Risk in the Young All Party
Parliamentary Group.”
*With CRY Patron
David Walliams, James was trained and mentored by
Professor Greg Whyte, Director of the CRY Centre for
Sports Cardiology based at the Olympic Medical Institute.
This
month, hundreds of postcards will also be distributed by CRY supporters
to people across the South East urging them to send it back to their
local MP. New cards will be launched regularly over the next 2 years,
portraying victims from 12 different regions across the UK.
Media coverage of this launch
Other regional launches of the CRY '12 a week' postcard
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