A mother campaigning for potentially life-saving heart screening facilities to be brought to North Wales is now more determined than ever to win her battle.

Doreen Harley’s surviving daughter, Rachel Wiln, has undergone a lifesaving operation to help her live with Long QT syndrome which killed her sister.

It was the tragic death of her 27-year-old sister, Lisa Jane Brown, which prompted Rachel to be screened for the hereditary condition called Long QT Syndrome – one of the causes of sudden cardiac death in the young.

Surgeons have fitted mother of two, Rachel, with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator which will kick-start the 29-year-olds heart should it stop.

“Rachel is in pain after the operation”, Doreen said, “but I’m so glad she’s had it done. She’ll now have to get used to having a foreign body inside her but it will save her life.”

Hundreds of youngsters will not be so lucky if this and other heart conditions remain undiagnosed.

Campaigning with CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young she is renewing her plea to businesses and individuals to support the Chronicle -backed appeal to bring screening facilities to North Wales.

Doreen says early detection has also helped save the lives of Rachel’s oldest son Jack, five, and her husband, Terry, who can now lead a relatively normal life with medication. Her two-year-old grandson, Adam, is awaiting tests