Two mums whose sons died suddenly of undetected heart defects are funding a life-saving screening programme.
Ruth Lowe, 50, and Ann Coles, 52, have raised enough cash to offer the £35 ECG screenings free to people aged between 14 and 35.
The screenings will be held in Preston in the near future.
Ruth’s 21-year-old son Andrew collapsed and died during a night out at Tokyo Jo’s club in 2004, as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition.
She said:” If Andrew had been screened, I’m sure his condition would have been detected.
“If I had been more aware of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome I would have insisted that he was checked out.”
Soon after her son’s death Ruth, of Woodplumpton, set up the Andrew Parr Memorial Fund to raise cash for the screenings.
She was joined by Ann, whose son Andrew also died of an undetected heart defect aged 21, while he was in Israel.
Ann, of Penwortham, said: “It’s going to help people. We don’t want to think other parents and families could go through what we have been through. The chance to be scanned could save a life. It could be someone you know. It could be you.”
Nationally one young person dies every day of undiagnosed heart conditions. The screenings may save thousands of young lives in Lancashire.
Alison Cox, founder and chief executive of Cardiac Risk in the Young, which is running the screenings, said: “Our figures show that one in 250 young people are carrying a condition that could be life threatening and they don’t realise it.
“It doesn’t just save the life of that person, but it also raises awareness that if its genetic, they will know to test their children.”
In a bid to raise more money for the fund, Ann and her daughter, Elisa, 22, are doing a parachute jump in Lancaster next month and have also organised a charity dinner on October 20 in Penwortham.
Tickets cost £10 and include a supper and a live band. To buy a ticket or donate raffle prizes, call the Cole family on 01772 748843.
