Bereaved mother submits petition for classes to help deal with loss

Ahmar Javed died in 2017 when a hidden medical condition caused a bleed on the brain

A mother whose son died from a hidden medical condition has called for the Scottish government to add bereavement lessons to the school curriculum.

Sameena Javed's 13-year-old son Ahmar died in 2017, when a rare condition caused a bleed on the brain.

She said his death hit friends and younger family members hard - and lessons could make it easier for them to understand and cope with grief.

Ms Javed has submitted two petitions to parliament in memory of her son.

She said she put the petitions forward - the other calling for full body scans for newborns - because she does not want other families to go through the heartbreak her family felt.

'Easier to cope and understand'

"Ahmar's sudden death had a terrible effect on many of his fellow pupils at his school," she said. "The shock hit Ahmar's young relatives and friends very hard.

"If young people in schools are taught about bereavement and death, then it might be ever so slightly easier for them to understand and cope with the grief that follows losing someone they know and is close to them."

Ahmar's school friends painted a statue of the Oor Wullie cartoon character in his honour, and wrote messages on the arm.

Ahmar had undetected Ateriovenous Malformation (AVM) - an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation. These can eventually rupture, leading to haemorrhage.

He suffered a bleed on the brain while at his karate class in April 2017. Ten days later, his parents Sameena and Javed, from Elderslie, in Renfrewshire, took the decision to turn off his life support machine.

One in 10,000

AVM affects around one in 10,000 people. It can occur anywhere in the body, and be asymptomatic.

Ms Javed believes a brain scan at birth could have detected it, and eventually saved Ahmar's life.

Her second petition urges the Scottish government to offer brain and body scans to all newborns in Scotland's hospitals - in the hope of detecting hidden conditions early.

"I appreciate not every parent will want their baby to be scanned, but surely it's worth it if a hidden or rare condition can be detected and treated," she said.

"If my son had been offered a brain scan at birth his condition could have been detected, potentially treated and he would still be with us now."

Ms Javed believes there is not enough research into early diagnosis and treatment of AVM - so launched a charity, Another Star In The Sky, to raise money in her son's name.

The charity has raised more than £13,000 with half the money being donated to the Office for Rare Conditions Glasgow at the Royal Hospital for Children and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, to help fund research into rare illnesses.

The other part of fundraising goes to the Child Bereavement UK charity's Glasgow centre that offers support to bereaved children and families.