A RARE heart condition has killed a teenager – but the tragedy has saved the life of his brother with the same illness.
Richard Allan, 16, collapsed without warning because of the previously undetected disorder.
The cause was put down to the little understood Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, used to describe apparently inexplicable fatalities.
Then doctors discovered the schoolboy had suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a swelling of the heart muscle which can cause it to beat irregularly.
A precautionary health check on the rest of the family gave grieving parents Denis and Mandy Allan the all clear – but found the same abnormality in Richard's elder brother, Stephen, 19.
Now Stephen is recovering from surgery which fitted a small defibrillator to his chest with electrodes to control the illness and allow him to lead a normal life.
He knows that without it he could die at any time, and that he has had the operation only because his brother fell victim to the same illness.
"It is very hard to cope with the fact that Richard's death has probably saved my life," said Stephen, a civil servant, who has a baby son, Connor.
"We were very close, he was my best friend as well as my brother, and he was going to be my best man when I planned to marry my girlfriend in May.
"Now we have postponed the wedding for a year while we all get over Richard's death."
He added: "The doctors found we both had a slight malformation in the heart which meant that it could suddenly start beating out of rhythm and stop, which is what happened to Richard.
"I should be safe now, but I would rather have my brother back.
"His death was a terrible shock and to find I suffered the same illness made it harder to cope with." Richard was a fit and active A-level student who, before his death, had been due to take part in a championship tennis contest at his local club.
His father had spoken to him only a moment before he collapsed and the youngster had appeared perfectly normal.
Mr Allan, a 51-year-old civil engineer, of West Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne, said: "He was sitting at his computer playing a game and we just had a chat.
"I asked him what he wanted for tea, made myself a cup of tea and went back through into the room and sat down.
"Then I heard this almighty bang and Richard was lying on the floor. He was blue. He had just fallen off his chair and I realised his heart had stopped."
Mr Allan tried heart massage while he waited for help to arrive but neither he nor paramedics could save the teenager.
Richard's father said: "Our one consolation is that his death has saved Stephen's life. It would be more than we could bear to lose both our sons.
"Stephen is struggling to come to terms with what has happened but at least he should now be safe."
The family is campaigning for routine scans to be made available through the National Health Service as a simple way of preventing other tragedies.
Since Richard's death in September they have raised £6,500 for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which campaigns for more research.
The money is enough to provide scans for 40 young people, but the Allan family believes the facility should be available on the health service.
Mrs Allan, 40, said: "No parent should have to go through this, especially when it could have been picked up by something as simple as a scan.
"We shouldn't have to fund-raise for something that should happen as a matter of course."
