10 years of screening at Garstang – 10 incredible years!
Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) is always keen to mark milestones achieved by “our families” and supporters. However, we also believe that this is very much their story and should be reflected upon and recounted in their own words. So, it’s our great pleasure to ‘hand over’ to CRY supporter, fundraiser and campaigner, Paula Hesmondhalgh, from Catterall, Lancashire to look back over the past decade of bringing CRY’s cardiac screening team to the Garstang Community Academy in memory of their son, Matthew.
Paula says; “Our beautiful son, Matthew, devastatingly fell victim to SADS [Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome] in August 2011. He was just 22 years old.
“6 months later, fundraising to sponsor a CRY cardiac screening day began, driven by the hopes of preventing the same fate traumatising another family. So, we set about launching the “Milk Bottle Challenge” (as Matt was a part-time milkie), a race night and an awesome 3-week cycle ride, on which we provided back-up for his friends and two of Matt’s former teachers as they embarked on the gruelling trip from Lands’ End to John O’ Groats.
“These events spurred a busy schedule of activity and encouragement from our local community that we could never have imagined. It is with grateful thanks to CRY, to local people and businesses, families, friends and strangers alike – from both near and far -that the original aim to secure one day of screening has meant that the fund has been able to provide so much more. In fact, a staggering 24 of these vital days – testing the hearts of around 100 young people aged 14-35 each session. As a prolific fundraiser himself I think Matt would be proud of what has been achieved in his memory.
“From its humble beginnings of collecting coins in milk bottles, to the copious and amazing challenges, ranging from Tough Mudders, marathon runners and cyclists – to name but a few – every penny raised has helped CRY in their mission to prevent young sudden cardiac death. Matt’s fund has seen supporters complete the Y3P, retraced Matt’s own footsteps on a canal caper, and even taken part in skydives! Together we have baked, crafted, painted, recycled & much more. Contributions have come from festivals, galas and dances, from those celebrating good times and from those remembering loved ones. Plants have been propagated, calendars produced, Christmas cards printed and a local author has magnanimously dedicated the proceeds from his ramble through local history book towards our work.
“Countless wonderful ideas both big & small have helped raise over £200,000 and, more importantly, screen almost 2,300 young hearts to date and it would not have happened but for the incredible, bountiful and unfaltering support we have received from one and all. And, alongside the incredible fundraising achievements, we’ve also strived to raise awareness of CRY’s work and it’s relentless campaigning to improve access to heart screening across the UK; to ensure that more doctors and cardiologists receive specialist training in how to read and interpret ECG tracings and to strive for a day when all young people will have the choice to have their heart tested. As such, I was delighted to meet with our local MP, Cat Smith recently and I’m thrilled that she’s offered her support to CRY and is seeking ways to become more involved with its work.
“Together with the charity’s expertise, the steadfast patronage of Matt’s Fund at CRY is saving the lives of precious young people. Of that, we are sure.”
Dr Steven Cox, CRY’s Chief Executive, adds, “Firstly, I want to extend my sincere thanks to Paula and Barry for their commitment and years of fundraising on behalf of CRY, in memory of their son, Matt. We simply wouldn’t be able to provide our vital services and pioneering screening programme without the support of people like the Hesmondhalgh family – which I know is underpinned by the heart of their local community.
“Our screening programme has evolved immeasurably over the past decade. Thanks to fundraising, research and better understanding of screening protocols, we have refined and streamlined our cardiac testing programme to such a standard that we are now able to test up almost 30,000 young people every year, with our screening vans travelling to venues around the UK, almost every day of the week. It’s wonderful to think that Paula and family have been with us on that journey and seen how we’ve grown, helping us to move closer to the day when every young person will have their heart routinely screened.”
Most of CRY’s screenings take place in community settings (schools, colleges, church halls and sports clubs) across the UK. Two Saturdays in every month, around 100 young people (aged 14-35) are also screened for free at CRY’s National Screening Centre, now based in Leatherhead, Surrey. Many of the young people who are identified through community screenings with potential abnormalities will be referred back to CRY’s Consultant Cardiologist, Professor Sanjay Sharma and his expert team at St George’s Hospital, London for further investigations.
The vast majority of CRY’s screenings are funded by families (such as the Hesmondhalghs) who have been affected by a young sudden cardiac death, so there is no charge to the individual when CRY’s mobile cardiac screening service comes to a local venue.
CRY uses a very simple, effective and non-invasive way of diagnosing most cardiac abnormalities. It is a quick, painless and affordable procedure called an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is reviewed by a specially trained medic. If a young person is found to have an abnormality, CRY will also swiftly refer them for Echocardiogram screen (ultrasound) and ongoing, more in-depth investigations, as necessary.
