Family stepping in to fund research

A family is planning a sponsored hike along the South Shields coast to raise funds for research into Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS). 

The Wilson family, their friends and neighbours, will be walking for CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) in memory of James Wilson, 24. 

He died in his sleep at home in Washington in January and the only explanation doctors could give was SADS, also known as Adult Cot Death. 

Mum Ann Wilson, 50, formerly of South Shields, said: “I am doing this so no other mother has to go through what I went through.” 

Husband James, 47, daughter Paula Thomson, 28, her husband Peter, 32, and their children Jamie, seven, and Bethany, four, will be among the walkers on Sunday, August 22. 

They will set off from the Bungalow Café in Roker at 11am and finish at the Little Haven Hotel in South Shields, taking the cliff-top route from Whitburn. 

Mrs Wilson said: “It is a seven-mile route and we have been getting together just going for walks each day in preparation.  We’re up to about four-and-a-half miles.” 

She added: “James was really well loved.  He was doing a computing degree at Northumbria University and was always in and out of houses fixing the neighbours’ computers!" 

“They were all keen to get involved and the response we have had has been fantastic.  We are just trying to raise as much awareness and sponsorship as possible.” 

It is a fitting tribute to student James, who was healthy, active and enjoyed exercise, keeping himself fit with trips to the gym and cycling. 

This made his death even more shocking, but every week between four and eight apparently fit and healthy young people aged under 35 die from undiagnosed heart conditions in the UK. 

CRY aims to raise awareness of SADS and work with cardiologists and family doctors to promote and protect the cardiac health of young people.