Widow calls for health checks for younger people

Tom Brakewell died at the age of 34 from an undiagnosed heart condition

A woman whose partner died from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 34 has called for mandatory health checks for young people.

Gabby Evans, 32, from Burnley, said her partner Tom Brakewell died in January but she believed his death might have been prevented if he had had a health check.

She has joined forces with another young widow to campaign for NHS health checks for those aged 25 to 35 and said if their campaign could get "just one person to check their health, it's worth it".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said NHS health checks were currently "targeted towards those at higher risk".

Gabby Evans said her partner's health problems might have been picked up sooner if he had had full health checks

Ms Evans met Laura Burr, 31, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, when both used TikTok as a platform to document their grief.

Mrs Burr's husband Edward Burr also died from an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 32 in October 2024.

While the pair have never met in person, Ms Evans, a registered nurse, and Mrs Burr, who works for Scottish Power, now speak to each other every day to "check in" and navigate their grief together.

They have launched a petition to call for the mandatory NHS health checks to detect underlying conditions, and to ensure "no-one would have to go through what we've gone through".

"We don't want Tom and Edward to have died for no reason, their deaths have to count for something and maybe this petition is why," Mrs Burr said.

She said: "We wanted to spend the rest of our lives with them, they were going to do wonderful things in the world and now they're not able to."

Ms Evans said loved ones have since told her that her partner was planning to propose in March 2025, but he "never got the chance".

Laura Burr is campaigning for NHS health checks for people aged 25 to 35 following the death of her husband

Ms Evans said her partner started experiencing headaches in August 2024, which the couple put down to him spending time in front of screens.

After visiting a doctor, it was found he had high blood pressure and he was prescribed medication to help – but he then started having chest pains in January 2025.

"He was admitted to hospital for a week on January 18 because they thought he'd had a heart attack, but it was the high blood pressure causing similar symptoms," she said.

"They got his blood pressure down and he was discharged – he was fine and he said he felt okay."

'Full tests'

Three days later, Ms Evans said she woke up in the morning and found he had "stopped breathing".

"I turned on the light and just knew instantly something wasn't right, I started doing chest compressions before the paramedics came," she said.

"They worked on him for about 45 minutes before they made the decision they couldn't carry on and Tom wasn't with us.

"I was with him when they pronounced him."

Mr Brakewell had suffered a cardiac arrest, and he died on 28 January 2025 – with the cause later determined to be high hypertension and coronary heart disease.

"His heart was damaged and he'd had it for a long period – if he had full tests earlier it may have been picked up sooner," Ms Evans said.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the families of Edward and Tom".

A new online service that eligible people could use at home to understand their risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes was being developed "to increase availability and uptake of the checks", they added.