Birmingham Evening News – 7th February 2004
By Poppy Brady
A mother whose only teenage son died of an undetected heart condition today backed a campaign calling for all youngsters at risk to be screened.
Auxiliary nurse Benita Davies’s 16-year-old son Paul died suddenly five years ago after falling off his bicycle in Earls High School in Halesowen.
Now her 23 year old daughter Nicola has been found to be suffering from the same heart condition after she underwent screening.
The condition, known as ARVC – arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy involves fatty tissue replacing heart muscle which in turn stops the heart from beating properly.
Nicola, who collapsed 4 weeks is now waiting to see if she needs heart surgery to have a special defibrillator fitted.
“When Paul died we were told he could have been treated if his condition had been known,” said Benita, 48, who lives in Halesowen.
“We had no idea at all that he had this condition. Paul was a normal, active teenager who was in the cadets and wanted to join the RAF.
“But out of 14 members of my family who have been screened since, seven are suspect.”
When Nicola first collapsed while on holiday in Majorca months after her brother’s death, her consultant said screening was not necessary.
It was then that Benita turned to the charity CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young.
CRY member Roy Ball from Harborne has been campaigning for years since his 16-year-old son Andrew collapsed while playing football in 1980.
Benita is now urging people to write to their MP to support the Cardiac Risk in the Young (Screening) Bill.
If the Bill becomes law it will mean mandatory screening for high risk children.
