Thanks
to Alex Fotheringham and her husband Fraser raising more than £15000,
hundreds of teenagers in the north of Scotland are being tested for hidden
heart disease.
Five years ago, the Fotheringhams’ daughter
Joanne, 24, a gifted young primary school teacher, died suddenly in her
sleep of an undiagnosed heart condition.
The Fotheringhams, from Ullapool, Highland,
are still heartbroken but their way forward has been to “give other
young people the chance Joanne never had”, says Alex.
The couple linked up with the charity
Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to support its heart testing programme for
young people. The first screening with money raised by the
Fotheringhams involved 289 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 and
took place in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in Spring 2002.
Twenty-two youngsters have subsequently
gone forward for more detailed screening also provided by the CRY team.
“If we can spare another family the
heartbreak of losing a child, then we will have done something really
positive'” says Alex.
