 Schoolboy Kieron Grove was
at the start of a 24 hour darts marathon on Saturday evening to raise
funds for research into children’s heart problems.
The five-year-old from
Marlborough was diagnosed when he was only a few months old with a rare
condition called Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome, which causes a very rapid
heart beat.
As a baby, Kieron’s
heartbeat reached 300 a minute, when the normal rate is between 60-80 and
it could have led to palpitations and eventually heart failure if left
untreated.
Doctors took the drastic
step of stopping his heart and starting it again which, said Kieron’s
mother Connie, appear to have remedied the problem.
Mrs Grove and her
husband Dave were told by a specialist at the former Princess Margaret
Hospital in Swindon that a heart could sometimes be likened to a computer
with a malfunction. They were
told that just like with a computer one solution was to switch it off and
start it again.
Mrs Grove said: “We
were told by the consultants they would probably have to do this. We were at the PMH when they told us that they were going to
stop his heart and then start it again.
We both dozed off and by the time we woke up it was all over.”
Kieron still has the
condition, which is caused by the heart having an extra electrical pathway
between the upper and lower chambers of the heart.
His mum said: “He
still has it but it is not causing any problems at the moment.”
The syndrome is not
genetic the family has been told and Kieron’s brother is perfectly
healthy.
One baby in every
thousand is born with a degree of Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome which is
one of the conditions a charity called Cardiac Risk in the Young is
promoting better awareness of.
Former England cricketer
Ian Botham is president of CRY and Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave is one
of its patrons.
CRY runs its own centre
for sports cardiology at the British Olympic Medical Centre and funds
research.
 At the weekend members
of the Marlborough Town FC darts teams held a 24 hour marathon to raise
funds for CRY.
The Mayor of Marlborough
and his wife, Coun Bill and Tricia Cavill, joined Kieron at the start of
the marathon at the football club in Saturday evening and returned to
watch the last darts thrown on Sunday.
Mr & Mrs Grove, who
live with Kieron and his brother Liam, eight, helped
organise the fund raising event and the father took part in the marathon.
It is hoped that it has
raised between £1,200 and £1,400 for CRY.
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