David Jewell – Tyne & Wear

In May 2001 my son, Damien aged 28, went to bed and did not wake up. The post-mortem identified that he had suffered an “acute myorcorditous” – losing your only child is devastating.

I became aware of CRY at this time but I did not take the opportunity to use any of their service. Instead I buried myself in my job which was a world I could cope with and it provided me with some much needed continuity of my purpose in life.

Fast forward to when I approached my retirement in February 2016 I decided that I wanted to offer my time to CRY so that I could help to raise awareness of cardiac issues in the young.

After a visit to the CRY offices in Leatherhead, I have been involved in a number of activities representing CRY and meeting some really dedicated people who are trying to make a difference after the loss of a loved one.

Sadly, it is often not until the loss of a loved one that we become aware of CRY – I would like to help change that by raising awareness so that we can help towards preventing cardiac issues.

By becoming an “official ” CRY representative I do hope I can help achieve this objective.