“You have enabled something good and purposeful to come from Andrew’s death” says the mother of a Darlington cyclist as almost 80 people are tested for heart conditions.
In February 2017, Andrew Oliver suddenly died after collapsing at home, leaving a community devastated. Andrew had always appeared very fit and healthy and was a competitive cyclist both on and off road.
It was only after his death that a post-mortem examination uncovered a heart condition which the 36-year-old was totally unaware of. His devastated family were introduced to charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and in the early months following Andrew’s tragic passing around £13,000 was raised by the keen cyclist’s loved ones.
Later in 2018, Andrew’s parents Judith and Chris decided to create a memorial fund within CRY, which would pay for free local heart screenings for young people in Darlington and the surrounding area. To date approximately £14,500 has been raised for the core aims of CRY and around £16,500 has been raised and ring-fenced to pay for local heart screenings.
The donations have meant recently 77 young people were screened for potentially dangerous heart conditions by charity experts at Elm Ridge Methodist Church. As a result two young people were referred for further investigations.
Every week, at least 12 apparently fit and healthy people, aged 35 and under, lose their lives to sudden cardiac death in the UK. In 80% of these cases, there will have been no warning signs, until it was too late.