Paula and Barry set up The Matthew Hesmondhalgh Memorial Fund when their fit and healthy son Matthew suddenly passed away aged 22. An inquest later concluded that his death should be recorded as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, often known as SADS, an umbrella term for the many different causes of cardiac arrest that happens to around 12 apparently healthy young people each week in the UK alone. They channelled their grief into raising awareness and funding, to bring cardiac screening into the local area and prevent other families from going through the same experience. Their fundraising efforts in his memory have allowed hundreds of young people to be screened, with some referred for treatment and even for surgery.
Accepting their award, Paula said,
“I really want to say thank you to my wonderful team, we are a very small team. We do an awful lot of fundraising, and without that team, without that community, we wouldn’t have got where we are.”
Read the full breakdown of the awards here
