Cardiac Risk in the Young (C.R.Y) is a charity that we have gotten to know over the past year, learning about who they are and what they represent. Back in January 2019 we lost someone that was a special person to everyone connected to him and will be something that has an impact on many of us for the rest of our lives.
His Name was Daniel Duncan AKA ‘D Dubz’. He loved sport, keeping fit from a young age with his passion being boxing along with going to the Weights Gym to stay in shape. Dan led a healthy lifestyle and always looked after himself, he enjoyed his weekends out and holidays with his friends like any young person would but for the most part he was one of the healthiest and fittest people to everyone that knew him. That is why his passing at the age of 26 was not only a massive shock to his close friends and family, but also to the local community. Dan was truly a one in a million person with a golden personality who had a love for life and everything in it. He was the last person that any of us would have expected this to happen to. This was a big reminder that life can be very short, and we need to try and make the most of it while we can.
Before Dan’s passing for many of us Cardiac Risk in the Young might not have been something we were too familiar with, but this has a deeper meaning now and it’s something that we feel is very important to raise awareness for. Dan had an underlying heart condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy or ARVC for short. Although this was not known at the time it does get progressively worse overtime and in active/sports people like Dan can be serious. Going for a check up on your heart is not something that most people have not done or do on a regular basis, and we feel that we would like to raise more awareness on this and encourage people to do as it could save your life and countless others.
As a team Dudley Rangers FC are proud to have the charity C.R.Y on the back of our shirts and we hope to raise as much awareness over the coming seasons about this charity with up-and-coming events that we are planning in both the charity and Dans name. Having this logo on our shirts will hopefully spread the message to our players and managers, the people who come to watch us and the opposition to go and check out this charity. Even if it encourages one person to go and get tested then it will all be worth it. Not only this but we feel we are contributing to keeping Dan’s name alive through sharing his story with others, and I know along with his parents Jennie and Winston, he would be proud of the team for helping raise awareness for this charity.
I’d like to thank Ben and the team at C.R.Y for being so helpful and understanding with this, and can only pass on our gratitude for how wonderful they were.
Written by
Ben Hearnshaw
& Dan’s brothers at Dudley Rangers FC
