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A heart screening event took place at Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School on 16th and 17th July in memory of former pupil Therese Field.
Funds raised by Rothschild Pearce House at CCGS in their charity weeks, Therese’s family and events attended by the local community, meant that 188 young people from CCGS were screened for potentially dangerous heart conditions by experts from the charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)
Every week, at least 12 apparently fit and healthy young people aged 35 and under lose their lives to sudden cardiac death in the UK. In 80% of these cases, there will have been no warning signs, until it was too late – which is why CRY believes proactive cardiac screening amongst asymptomatic young people is so vitally important.
An ECG test is a simple way to identify the vast majority of abnormalities that can cause sudden deaths in young people. The test is quick, non-invasive and, if necessary, a further Echocardiogram can be taken on the same day to provide further clarity or reassurance.
CRY’s screening programme is overseen by Professor Sanjay Sharma, Professor of Inherited Cardiovascular Disease and Sports Cardiology at St George’s University of London and the Medical Director of the Virgin London Marathon. Professor Sharma makes no charge for supervising the CRY screening programme and due to this support, CRY can subsidise the programme significantly – privately, these tests could cost hundreds of pounds.
