A mother whose son nearly died from a rare heart complaint is on a mission to save other families from heartbreak.
Retired nurse Eddie Farrow from Sheerwater had no idea 17-year-old Bradley had a sudden death syndrome (SDS) called Brugada until he collapsed in October 2001.
Mrs Farrow said Bradley had been complaining of a headache and not feeling well and later that evening he just fell down, apparently in a faint.
She said: “He was taken to St Peter’s Hospital and had an ECG and then discharged as fine.
I wasn’t very happy over the weekend and took him back into hospital but he was sent home again.”
Her son was feeling light headed and his pulse was erratic and Mrs Farrow decided he had to be seen at St Peters again. He was admitted and an ECG was taken, which was faxed to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.
Mrs Farrow said: “I was told that my son had an SDS and could drop dead at any time. He is now fitted with a defibrillator and a pacemaker, the only way to keep him safe.”
Mrs Farrow is a conference representative for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and every spare moment is spent helping publicise the syndrome and to campaign for routine heart testing of youngsters.
She is keen to gain support for a private members bill being presented by Dari Taylor MP, treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Group for CRY.
The Cardiac Risk in the Young (Screening) bill aims to improve the process and availability of screening for those recognised as being in the high risk group.
