This
is the only free cardiac screening tour of its kind in
England and it stopped for 3 days of screening in
Handforth, Cheshire on the 9th, 10th and 11th October.
The tour is one of CRY's flagship
campaigns during its 15th anniversary year and the
profile of the Handforth screening dates received a
great boost when a number of Sale Sharks rugby players -
including England International Andrew Sheridan -
visited the screening trailer to lend their support.
The screening sessions, held outside the town’s Tesco
Extra store, were held in memory of local man, David
Harrop, who died suddenly in September 2007 from a
previously undiagnosed heart defect known as
arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy.
David was aged just 31 and died whilst playing for his
local team, Lymm RFC. He had only been married to his
wife, Jenny, for 8 weeks when he died. They had returned
to the Wilmslow area to start their married life, having
spent many years living and working in London.
Jenny's story was featured in the
Daily Mirror in September 2010.
Since David’s death, family and friends have worked
tirelessly to raise awareness and funds for CRY. Jenny,
a local doctor, has run the Marathon and climbed
Kilimanjaro in aid of the charity; and during the
screening weekend presented CRY with a further cheque
for £6,000.
300 local people
(aged 14-35) were tested for free over the 9th - 11th
October, including Jay Thomas from Sale Sharks and a
local football squad.
Jenny Harrop
(centre) presents CRY with a cheque for
£6,000, along with Andrew Sheridan of Sale Sharks
(right)
and Professor John Somauroo, one of CRY's cardiologists
(left)
Every week in the UK, 12 young people (aged 35 and
under) lose their lives to sudden cardiac death - a
statistic that’s believed to be a conservative estimate.
Following the success of the initial Test My Heart
launch in 2009 – which saw the huge, mobile screening
unit (donated by health and well-being company,
Phillips) visiting 12 destinations – this year’s Test My
Heart Tour aims to offer free screening to over 2,500
young people.
Last year, around 2,500 young people were tested, in
venues including supermarkets, town centres and
universities. At least 13 people were diagnosed with
heart abnormalities during the 10 week tour.
A staggering 80 per cent of apparently healthy 14-35
year olds who die from young sudden cardiac death will
have shown no previous signs of heart defects. It is
widely accepted that testing saves lives, reinforcing
the importance of the CRY Test My Heart Tour and its
unique ability to detect conditions in people that might
otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Chief Executive and Founder of Cardiac Risk in the
Young, Alison Cox MBE, said: “As a charity, we are
very excited about rolling out our pioneering tour for
the second year. The Test My Heart initiative allows us
to reach out to new parts of England, where access to
screening may be poor, as well as helping us to continue
raising the profile of CRY and the importance of
screening young people.
In 2009, in just over two months, our team identified
a number of young people who were simply unaware that
they were walking around with an undiagnosed and
potentially fatal heart defect – literally, a ticking
timebomb. Thankfully, these people were treated and are
now able to lead normal, active lives. The consequences
of their conditions remaining undetected, simply doesn’t
bear thinking about and underlines the very ethos of CRY
and our ongoing mission to reduce deaths from these
sudden and tragic conditions.”
* * *
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Anyone aged 14-35 who is
interested in having their heart tested can go
to
www.testmyheart.org to book a free
appointment. The mobile unit consists of three
rooms where Philips’ ECG and ECHO equipment will
be used to test people. A doctor with a team of
cardiac physicians will be present with each
screening taking no more than 30 minutes.
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