Emilie Bradshaw meets two mothers on a mission to spare other families the tragedy of losing a loved one to unexpected heart conditions.
‘If Andrew was here he would be urging people to be screened because if he had had the chance, I believe he’d still be alive today.”
Ruth Lowe’s son Andrew Parr’s life was cut short at the tender age of 21 when he collapsed and died during a night out at Tokyo Jo’s nightclub. His death, three years ago, was due to an undetected heart condition which national figures show claims the lives of at least eight apparently fit and healthy young people each week.
Ruth, 51, from Woodplumpton, has since set up the Andrew Par Memorial Fund and is north west co-ordinator for the charity CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young. Together with Penwortham mum Ann Coles, they’ve made it their mission to raise awareness of sudden adult death and hold vital mobile ECG screenings which could save other young lives.
Ann’s son Andrew was also just 21 when he died 10 years ago while in Israel. He had been working there for just over a month when the tragedy happened.
In memory of Ann’s son Andrew, they raise enough funds to hold a free CRY ECG screening event for 14 to 35-year-olds in the city at the weekend.
And they are pleading with people to take the potentially life-saving 10-minute test.
Ann, 53, says: “It’s going to help local people. We don’t want to think other parents and families could go through what we have been through.
“The chance to be scanned could save a life. It could be someone you know. It could be you.”
Ruth says if she had been more aware of sudden adult death syndrome, she would have insisted her son Andrew was checked out and given an ECG.
She says: “We want to give other young people a chance to be screened and if there are any defects there, they can get some help and it can be corrected.
“It is important to say just how amazed we are at how many people it has happened to.
“This condition is indiscriminate. I would urge three groups to come along to be screened, those involved in sport, those who have already experienced a young sudden death in their family, and everyone else.
“I can’t change what has happened, but I can perhaps help to save someone else’s life.”
CRY figures show one in 250 young people is carrying a condition that could be life-threatening – and they don’t realise it.
The charity is one of Mayor of Preston Counc Christine Abram’s official mayoral charities. This week she handed over £2,500 from mayoral fund-raising events towards the work of CRY and further screening events in Preston.
Coun Abram says: “It is raising awareness and making people realise their life can actually be saved.”
FREE ECG SCREENINGS will be available for 14 to 35-year-olds at Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club in Lightfoot Lane, Fulwood, on Sunday November 18. To book a place visit CRY’s online booking system at http://www.mybookingcalendar.com/cry and select November 2007 and click on ‘Lowe family screening’. Select a convenient appointment slot and complete on-line registration details. Early booking is advised.
