The father of a teenage Ulster sports star who tragically died prematurely of a rare heart complaint today called for the immediate screening of all young people involved in high-level sport in Northern Ireland. John Lundy from Portstewart, whose son Aaron was a champion golfer before he died suddenly aged just 19, said the death of GAA star Cormac McAnallen must prompt immediate action in raising awareness of what he described as a "silent killer".
Aaron, a fit and healthy young man and one of the province's most promising golfers, died without warning from a rare cardiac condition called Wolfe Parkinson Whyte more that four years ago. Aaron, who was a top athlete, had been playing a football match and felt unwell. He later died at Coleraine Hospital. A post mortem examination revealed that 24-year-old GAA captain of Tyrone Cormac McAnallen died from a rare viral infection of the heart, affecting one in 100,000 people. In the United Kingdom an estimated four to six young people die from premature cardiac conditions each week.
In Northern Ireland there are no statistics available as to the scale of the problem of cardiac illness in young people.
Aaron's heartbroken father John is currently backing a parliamentary Bill to improve the availability of cardiac screening in Northern Ireland for young sport stars – people he believes are a high-risk group. Mr Lundy is the Northern Ireland representative of Cry, Cardiac Risk in the Young and campaigns tirelessly to raise awareness of the disease.
Since he launched his campaign in the Belfast Telegraph scores of grief stricken parents have contacted him who believe their children died from a similar condition to his son Aaron. "This is the most devastating thing to happen and my heart goes out to the McAnallen family. To lose a son in such unexpected and tragic circumstances is beyond belief.
"I have spoken to representatives of Tyrone GAA club who contacted me after Cormac's tragic death. Now is the time for action, we must introduce screening for these young people.
"People need to know that the illnesses that affected Aaron and Cormac are not one-offs, tragically it seems to be all too common.
"Screening before pre-season training must become compulsory for young athletes involved in hockey, football, rugby and Gaelic games.
"It would be expensive to introduce and would have to be carried out by a cardiologist but it would show up those who are at risk and who should not be training at a high level. "If more information about cardiac conditions was available I believe that just maybe some of these tragedies could be averted. "People need to know that big, strong, healthy boys like Aaron and Cormac can just drop dead. We cannot wait until another young, fit person dies." Mr Lundy is currently tying to compile statistics in Northern Ireland about premature cardiac disease and needs to hear from anyone who has been affected by the illness. John Lundy can be contacted through his son's website http://www.aaronlundy.com.
