An Ulverston mum who lost her 22-year-old son to the little-known adult equivalent of cot death has set herself an awareness-raising mission.
Two years after Lee Stables died suddenly while enjoying a backpacking trip around India, his mum Sharen is hoping to raise both funds and knowledge of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).
“I’m doing it in memory of Lee, I don’t want anyone else to go through what we’ve been through,” she said. “If I can raise money and stop it happening to other people then his death hasn’t been in vain.”
Her son was inexplicably found dead in bed by his girlfriend in March 2002, the day after his 22nd birthday. A post mortem examination could find no reason for his death leading to speculation about SADS – an umbrella term for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.
Mrs Stables, who runs Ulverston home furnishers Stables with her husband Phil, will be manning a market stand next week leafleting about SADS for the support charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
Accurate statistics are not available but CRY believes at least four people under 35 die suddenly from heart problems every week.
Many of these deaths are preventable and CRY wants to see youngsters given routine electrocardiogram tests (ECGs) as they are in Italy in order to detect any heart problems. Mrs Stables is hoping to help the charity reach its goal by raising cash to buy more ECG machines for GP surgeries and hospitals.
Olympic rower and gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave and former England cricketer Ian Botham are both backers of the campaign.
To rally funds, Mrs Stables is holding a raffle to raise at least £1,000. Generous donations have flooded in from Ulverston traders including Finnertys, Brand X, Cumbria Office Supplies, Woolworths, and the Lonsdale House Hotel. A meal for two with wine, clothes and chocolates aplenty are among the prizes.
She has also had a blouse donated from Coronation Street’s Blanche Hunt aka Maggie Jones.
