County Representative
We lost our precious middle child Stuart, on January 29th 2006, aged 25 years. He was playing his usual Sunday morning game of football and literally dropped dead as he ran across the pitch.
A local GP watching the game did all she could and the paramedics were fantastic but there was nothing they could do.
My husband and I were in Barcelona and our eldest son Simon in Shanghai. Lucy, our daughter, rushed to the hospital expecting to be told he had broken a leg. She was only there a few minutes when the doctors came to break the news to her.
Stuart was a very fit and healthy young man – loved his lager and pretty young ladies! Throughout his life there had been no indication that there was anything wrong with his heart. Dr. Mary Sheppard discovered he had ARVC and had had it for a long time. How lucky we were to have him for 25 years.
Our local hospital screened us all within 6 weeks of his dying. It was discovered that our youngest child, Lucy – then 23 years old – had major signs of it (ARVC) but her older brother Simon – then aged 27 years – had only minor signs and within 48 hours we were at the Heart Hospital in London.
Lucy was subsequently fitted with a defibrillator which has saved her life. We were given all the information about CRY at the hospital and gave all donations from Stuart’s funeral to them. 600 people came to his funeral – it brought us a lot of comfort to know how much loved he was by so many. Our family circle has been broken and our lives will never be the same again. It still seems unbelievable that this has happened to us – its always someone else!!!
Genetic testing has shown that both my husband and I have defective DNA so our siblings and their children have all been screened as well. Fortunately all seem clear.
I phoned CRY a number of times in the following weeks and found them so helpful and kind. It is imperative that we raise the profile of CRY and help to prevent other families going through the agony of losing a child or a young partner. This is why I now feel I would like to help by becoming a CRY County Representative.
