SOLIHULL SCHOOL HOSTS FREE HEART SCREENING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

A free screening programme that could detect potentially fatal heart problems in young people is being held at Solihull Junior School this month.

CRY (Cardiac Risk in Young People) is holding the screening on Saturday, November 19 and Sunday, November 20 in memory of Stuart Hudson, a 31-year-old amateur footballer from Solihull who died suddenly while playing in a match two years ago.  

The simple and quick ECG (electrocardiogram) test could help save the lives of the 12 healthy young people who die each week in the UK from undiagnosed heart conditions, according to the charity.

Young people aged 14 to 35 are being urged to get screened, particularly if they are engaged in sport, at the first local event of its kind to be hosted by Solihull School, the independent co-educational school for 7-18 year old pupils in Warwick Road, Solihull.

The event is being organised by bereaved parents across the West Midlands with the £35 cost of each ECG screening being met through the CRY West Midlands ECG Fund.

All appointments at this first cardiac screening clinic in Solihull have been funded by monies raised in memory of Stuart Hudson who died aged 31.

The West Midlands ECG Fund for CRY includes donations made in memory of Stuart Hudson, Andrew Ball (aged 16), Alison Linforth (16), Jennifer Pearce (19), David Bick (33), Robert Prosser (16) and Paul Davies (16).

Mark Penney, Deputy Head of Solihull Junior School, said: “We support CRY's aims for all children in the UK to have heart tests, as they do annually in Italy, and hope that as many families as possible will have their children screened alongside pupils from Solihull School for any underlying heart conditions.”

Dr Steven Cox, CRY’s Director of Screening, explained: “Twelve young people die every week in the UK and one in every three hundred apparently fit and healthy young people has a serious underlying condition.

“Minor cardiac abnormalities will be identified in 1% of people. Although not life threatening, they will have a long term impact if not identified. I would encourage people to get in touch with CRY and arrange to be screened.”

To book an appointment or for more information on CRY, click on www.c-r-y.org.uk/ecg.htm

ABOUT CRY:

• There is a simple way to diagnose most cardiac abnormalities. This is by having an ECG (electrocardiogram) test. Results should be read by a cardiologist. For extra clarity an Echocardiogram (ultrasound scan of the heart) can also be done

• If there has been a young (under 35) sudden death in the family, the family is entitled to be screened on the NHS

• CRY offers subsidised rates for screening. See:www.c-r-y.org.uk/ecg.htm

• CRY is a charity founded in May 1995 to raise awareness of Cardiac Risk in the Young - Sudden Cardiac Death, Sudden Death Syndrome (SADS)

• CRY offers support to those who have suffered a loss through a network of affected families & counseling

• CRY promotes heart screening, ECG Testing Programmes & contributes to medical research

• CRY donates medical equipment to doctors' surgeries and hospitals. To date CRY has donated over £500,000 of cardiac equipment for use in GP surgeries, Cardiac Wards and A&E Departments

• CRY  funds the CRY  Inherited Cardiovascular Disease Clinic and the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology at St George’s Hospital London

• CRY funds the CRY Centre for Cardiac Pathology, a fast-track expert cardiac pathology service for bereaved families based at the Brompton Hospital. www.cry-ccp.org.uk

• CRY’s myheart network offers help, support and information to young people who are coping with a diagnosis of a heart condition. www.c-r-y.org.uk/myheart.htm

• Philips, a world leader in medical technologies, is working with CRY to support the pioneering subsidised heart testing the charity offers to all young people aged between 14 and 35. www.testmyheart.org

• Philips has donating over £300,000 of state of the art ECG and ECHO imaging systems to equip CRY's screening programme at clinics across the UK. Health and wellness for the patient are at the heart of all Philips' medical technologies.

• In 2007 Philips and CRY launched The Heart Screening Awareness Partnership, designed to help families understand the simple steps involved.  David Walliams supported this launch by appearing in a short film on the CRY website designed to show young people that the screening process is not a scary one.