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A GRIEVING mother has launched an
appeal in memory of her son in the hope of preventing another family suffering a
similar tragedy. Julian Wort
was a fit, fun-loving 28-year-old builder when he died in his sleep at his Frome
home on March 19 last year. Prolonged
medical tests revealed Julian died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - a
hereditary disease which causes excessive thickening of the heart muscle, had
the disease been detected medication could have saved Julian's life. Now
his mother, Shirley Wort, of Westwood Drive, and sister Debbie Rusbridge, have
launched the Julian Wort Memorial Fund to raise £7,000 to buy a heart-monitor
for the use of the people of Frome. Shirley
said: 'Julian's death was such a shock - he had not been ill. The only sign was
six months before when he fainted. The doctor checked him thinking it might be
asthma related and gave the all-clear. 'Julian
worked for Pang Properties and led a active life enjoying golf, fishing and car
maintenance. He lived with his girlfriend, Claire Skyner, who was with him when
he died. 'She rang at 2am to
say he was gasping for air, she thought he was having a fit. The ambulance was
called but, by the time we got there, he was dead. 'The
paramedics worked fan an hour and a half but there was nothing they could do.' Debbie
said: 'When someone is fit you expect them to come round. The paramedics thought
it was a brain hemorrhage. They had not heard of the condition we eventually discovered
Julian had. To go to bed at
10pm and be perfectly alright and die two and a half hours later just seems unbelievable.' Even
the inquest into Julian's death left many questions unanswered. The
post-mortem was inconclusive despite his heart being examined at the Royal
Brompton Hospital in London. Debbie
said: 'We had never been in a court room before - it was so formal, we didn't
know what to expect. We would have liked to have asked so many more
questions of the pathologist. Shirley
said: Some weeks later we got a call from our GP. He told us about Julian's
condition which is known as HCM and that it was genetic. 'I
was worried for Debbie and her sons. We were told we would have to wait up to a year
to get tested on the NHS.' Debbie
and her parents, Shirley and David, paid privately - £150 each for ten minutes
of a consultant's time and £27 each fotr the use of the equipment at the Royal
United Hospital. They were given the all-clear. Debbie's
sons, ten-year-old Adam and seven-year old Oliver will be tested when they reach
puberty. Debbie said:' Mum
came across an article about CRY, a charity which campaigns for the awareness of cardiac risk in the young. 'We
feel if Julian has known about the risk he would have been up there insisting on
an ECG. 'His death could have
been prevented if he had known. With medication he could have had a long and
happy life.' The at-risk age
is between 14 and 35. Symptoms include breathlessness, palpitations, dizziness
and fainting. Shirley said:' We
want to raise about £7,000 to get and ECG machine up and running the the From
area.' Julian's Memorial Fund
is being supported by CRY. Family
and friends launched the fund by raising more than £300 from a NEw Year's Eve
party and coffee morning. They
have many other ideas planned. One
will be a Frome College reunion for those reaching 30 this year. It
will be held on March 17 at the Hexagon Suite. Tickets, at £3 each, are
available from the Barber Shop at Badcox or by contacting Sharon Welsh on 01373
466443. Shirley said:'I would
hate another family to go through what we have. It has been a horrendous year
and I would not wish it on my worst enemy. With permission from the
Somerset Standard
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