Pictured from left are lead practice nurse Jayne
Elton, Dr Helen Kingston, Dr Chris Ellis, Julian’s sister Debbie Rushbridge, his
parents Shirley and David Wort and his long term partner Claire Skyner.
In
only six months the family of Julian Wort raised £5000 to buy life-saving
equipment for the Frome Health Centre in memory of their son.
Julian
died suddenly at the age of 28 in March 2000 from a rare heart condition known
as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
His
family decided to launch an appeal in his memory through a charity called CRY
(Cardiac Risk in the Young).
They
wanted to raise enough money to buy a state of the art ECG machine for the Frome
Medical Practice. Those helping to raise money included the Lions Club
and Little Terrors soft play centre. Fund raising events including a
school reunion, karaoke, a skittles competition, coffee mornings, a sponsored
head shave and a sponsored slim.
Mrs
Wort said: “We, as a family, would like to thank everyone who has supported
us during the last 15 months since losing Julian.]
“It
has been a difficult time for us all, and hopefully, by continuing to raise
awareness, no other family will have to go through such a tragedy as we
have.”
The Worts plan to
continue their campaign with CRY.
The
charities main aims are to raise awareness of symptoms, screening, research and
family support.
Mrs Wort said:
“We want to raise enough money to make possible an ongoing ECG
programme and mobile screening.”
CRY
has a mobile screening van and a screening team which works at weekends to carry
out cardiac tests on request.
With
permission Somerset Standard
