More than 50 people will hopefully get peace of mind thanks
to cardiac screening sessions in Redcar.
The town’s United Reformed Church hosted the sessions over
the weekend. They were organised by the CRY charity
(Cardiac Risk in the Young) through Redcar parents Maralyn and Kenny Bowen,
whose son Ian died aged 19 from the rare heart condition Wolfe-Parkinson-White
Syndrome.
The condition caused by an extra electrical connection
within the heart, could have been detected by an electrocardiograph – ECG.
So over the weekend, and as a tribute to Ian, 40 people
had an ECG and follow-up Echo scan.
And fittingly, among those screened was one of Ian’s best
pals.
Alan Moylan went through school with Ian and was even with
him when he collapsed and died in 1996.
Maralyn, of Buckingham Road, Redcar, said: ‘It was so
weird, seeing Alan walk in as your photographer died. It was like it was meant
to be.
‘We’re so grateful for the help people have given us over
the years, so this was our way of giving something back.’
Test results from the scans will be analysed at St
George’s Hospital, London and forwarded to local GPs, although it’s hoped no
follow-up treatment will be needed.
The Bowens, who have raised more than £17,000 for CRY
since Ian’s death in 1996 and paid around £3,000 for the screenings, hope to
repeat the exercise next year.
They also thanked everyone who supported the sessions and
Middlesbrough’s Thistle Hotel for looking after the CRY cardiac team from
London.
