Woman raises money for heart screening sessions

Jenny Thomas's son Nicholas died in 2005

A woman from Plymouth who lost her son to an undiagnosed heart condition 20 years ago has raised thousands of pounds to fund heart screening sessions for young people.

Jenny Thomas's son Nicholas died in 2005 aged 25 from long QT syndrome, which can cause someone's heart to beat irregularly or faster than usual.

Ms Thomas said she believed a heart screening could have picked up the condition.

She managed to raise £7,000 in memory of Nicholas which has been used to fund heart screening sessions in Plymouth.

"I love talking about Nick but it is difficult at times," Ms Thomas said.

"Nick was all about family, music and football. Those were his three loves, and family came first."

After her son's death, Ms Thomas became a grief counsellor and was supported by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

It screens young people for between the ages of 14 and 35 for heart conditions.

She now volunteers for CRY in her spare time.

More than 100 people attended one of the sessions the charity runs to screen conditions at the Woolwell Centre in Plymouth.

Dr Daniel Abioye was the heart specialist on duty.

He said around one in 300 young people screened will have an issue, but many more were going untested.

"That's part of the reason why we are doing the screening, with the hope of identifying people who are at risk early and giving advice in terms of diagnosis and how it could be managed with the hope of preventing sudden cardiac death in the young," said Dr Abioye.

CRY holds screening sessions across the UK and Jenny Thomas said she hoped to make the Plymouth screenings a regular event.