A grief-stricken mum is raising cash for charity in memory of her teenage son.
Daniel Boughey, 14, died in his sleep just hours after his family was filmed for Channel 4’s reality show Wife Swap.
It is believed the Ruskin Sports College pupil fell victim to a mysterious illness known as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS).
Earlier in the day the fit and active youngster had been trampolining and was excited about appearing on TV.
He was found the next morning by his 17-year-old brother at their home in Alton Street, Crewe.
Now his mum Karen Preece, 35, is trying to raise awareness of the condition which occurs when the electrical flow to the heart is interrupted causing is to stop.
This week she joined forces with the Three Lamps pub in Crewe to launch a fundraising campaign for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry), which raises awareness of SADS and supports families who have suffered a loss.
A charity auction is to be staged at the pub at 7pm next Wednesday, December 6, in a bid to raise thousands of pounds.
Karen said: “We all miss Daniel so much and are just getting by from day-to-day. It’s been a month but I don’t know if I will ever get over the devastation.
“The fundraising campaign is in memory of my lovely boy. We don’t want his death to be in vain.”
Actress Lea Tate, alias Zoe Tate from Emmerdale, Gemma Keys, Stacey from Emmerdale and comedian Johnny Mac will be taking take off last minute rehearsals for Cinderella at the Lyceum Theatre to chat to customers and sign autographs.
Three Lamps landlord Peter Jones said: “We have some great items to auction off including bikes, football memorabilia, shopping vouchers for Morrison’s, Asda and Tesco, as well as tickets for Crewe, Stoke, Everton and Manchester United.”
The pub in Earle Street has made a head start raising £200 with a lucky dip draw.
FACT FILE
Cry is a charity founded in May 1995 to raise awareness of cardiac risk in the young.
It offers support to those who have suffered a loss through a network of affected families and counselling.
It promotes heart screening, ECG testing programmes and contributes to medical research.
Medical equipment has been donated to doctors’ surgeries and hospitals and it funds the Cry centre for sports cardiology at the Olympic Medical Institute in Harrow.
It recommends screening if there have been any young, sudden deaths in the family or if a child is showing symptoms of chest pain (exercise-related), breathlessness, palpitations or dizziness or has suffered fainting or blackouts.
