A regional daily has received backing from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and sporting stars for a charity appeal which aims to raise £7,000.
The Citizen in Gloucester aims to raise the cash by next April as part of its Stop the Heartbreak appeal to fund 200 screenings for young people to detect any undiagnosed heart conditions.
It was launched following the deaths of two young rugby players in the city and has also been backed by Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave and rugby star Phil Vickery.
The paper has teamed up with the University of Gloucestershire to put on the screenings which will be carried out by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young and are available for 15 to 35 year olds.
Nick Clegg is pictured with a charity wristband.
As part of the campaign, it has also launched a wristband to help raise cash alongside appealing for donations from businesses and members of the sporting community.
Sir Steve, who lost friend and crew mate Robert Hayley to an undiagnosed heart condition, is patron of the charity CRY and will attend the screenings.
Editor Jenny Eastwood said: “We are delighted with the support from Sir Steve in coming along to the screenings which have been possible thanks to the University of Gloucestershire.
“In the city, we have seen two young rugby players die as a result of undiagnosed conditions and these screenings really could save a life.”
Sir Steve said: “Robert was my best friend and crewmate. He was extremely fit and we had just recently as junior rowers won a senior race together. We had been watching TV.
“He suddenly stood up and died of what we were told was a cardiac abnormality. He was 17. That memory is always with me.”
Nick Clegg gave the appeal his backing and posed for pictures with a wristband on a visit to the county.
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My brother died suddenly from an undetected heart disease at the young age of 20 . If Carl had of been screened in school he would probably still be here today . We need to be screening all young adults .
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There should be national screening and awareness for all school children. My sister was 11 years old when she died. She had no symptoms and wasn’t ill. A simple heart scan may have saved her life.
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Every sportsman and woman should back this campaign. Utterly devestating that lives are lost unecessarily.
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We lost our son when he was 21 he was fit and healthy and just dropped dead, here in Preston I am part of a group called Heartfelt all Mums who have lost sons at very young ages to undiagnosed heart problems.we raise money and awareness and have yearly screenings which are always booked up early? the Government should be thinking about a screening programme for our youngsters before they leave school, this would cut the number of deaths considerably. 12 young people a week die of undiagnosed heart conditions and families that this has touched are desperate not to see it happen to others. So come on. Nick Clegg let’s see how much you really want to back this campaign let’s have national screening.
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As previous contributors have said, we don’t have national screening and that is one of the reasons we are trying to raise £7000 for this vital screening in Gloucestershire.
Please spread the word and follow us on twitter #stoptheheartbrk, or email us for information if you would like to help or be a sponsor on [email protected], or visit our justgiving page and help us raise the money to make sure no one has to pay for this.
Thanks.
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