LancsLive, 6 July 2021
Andy suddenly collapsed and passed away at home at just 31 years old. Sunday, July 4th, marked 6 months since his sudden death which his fiancée Danielle Riley was told via a pathologist report was due to Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS). To celebrate his life, keep his memory alive and give many of his friends and family who were unable to attend his funeral a chance to say goodbye, Andy’s childhood friend Mark Cookson organised a fundraising football match at Chipping FC to raise awareness of SADS and to raise money for a Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) heart screening day in Longridge where Andy lived.
Mark stated:
“Since Andy’s death, we have all come together as a community to rally around his family and promise that we do all we can to create a fitting legacy for our mate Andy, who we all miss so much.
“We’ve already held a number of small events and sporting challenges, which have raised thousands of pounds towards specialist cardiac screening for young people, which we hope to bring to our local area, as soon as we can.
“But this football match, and day of celebration, is really going to be special, and a long overdue chance for lots of us to come together for the first time (in a Covid secure way) to pay tribute to Andy.
“Football was his passion, something I really shared with him, we were always travelling together to watch our team, Preston North End, as well as England games, when we could.
“There’s no better way we could think of to pay tribute to him, whilst raising funds and creating awareness so others don’t ever have to go through the shock and pain that we’re all feeling now.”
