The weekend began in fine style for Charlotte Luckett and her brother, Martyn.
The pair enjoyed a takeaway, played crazy golf, took part in a primary school fun run and watched Big Brother on the telly.
Later on the Saturday night, they went dancing at a night club.
On the Sunday, however, 19-year-old Martyn began feeling dizzy and feverish. He complained of funny feelings across his chest.
Charlotte called NHS Direct for advice. Martyn himself, although feeling better, spoke on the phone to a doctor.
In the early hours of the Monday morning, however, Charlotte found her brother unconscious in her Swindon flat he shared with her.
He later died in hospital of Myocarditis, a viral infection of the heart and a form of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).
It took five weeks for that diagnosis to be confirmed and in the meantime 450 people attended Martyn’s funeral at Stoke Church in Hartland, where his family lives. He was a popular young man, having competed nationally in motorcycle trials and representing the South West in the sport.
All that happened a year ago and Martyn’s family are still struggling to come to terms with his loss.
Charlotte and her family are devoting their spare time to making people aware of SADS and to raising money for an organisation called CRY, which stands for Cardiac Risk in the Young.
“Not in a million years would I have thought on that Sunday when Martyn and I were playing crazy gold that I would be attending his funeral two weeks’ later,” she said.
“It has taken a long time to realise that at least I can look back and say that we had so much fun that weekend because we were both unaware of what was going to happen.”
Charlotte is helping to organise a fund-raising fashion show for CRY with Lacy Connections, of Barnstaple.
The show will be held in October and Charlotte is looking for sponsors. She can be contacted on (01237) 441611.
