Family’s pledge to prevent more deaths
TRAGEDY INSPIRES STUDENT’S LOVED ONES TO RAISE FUNDS
Reporter HE was a talented student who had everything to live for.
But Robert Smith’s life was tragically cut short when he died of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) – a condition that often shows no signs until it is too late.
In the face of unthinkable grief and overwhelming support, Robert’s family have worked tirelessly to turn tragedy into hope.
Since his death in 2014, the 22-year-old’s family has raised £32,000 and funded heart screenings for hundreds of young people in the County Durham area.
Now they hope their campaign to encourage more people to have screenings will help identify potentially life-threatening heart defects.
Robert’s aunt, Elaine Spence, has been spearheading the campaign with his mum, Linda Smith, 51.
Elaine, 49, said: “Robert was studying at York St John University and was doing his dissertation – he was right at the end of his course.
“A policeman knocked on my sister’s door and said he had been found on his bed in his room.
“His friend who he had been living with had been knocking and ringing for two days and could not get in touch with him. They rang the landlord who had a spare key and went in the room, that’s when they found him lying there.
“He was lying on the edge of his bed with his laptop still in his hand.”
A postmortem revealed Robert died from SADS, which his family were unaware he had.
The condition causes cardiac arrest, by bringing on a ventricular arrhythmia, or disturbance in the heart’s rhythm, according to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). “We were not aware of the condition and the coroner put us in touch with CRY who have been really good,” Elaine said. “Since then, we have been working alongside them for the last four years. Every week 12 young people aged between 14 and 35 die.
“We have been raising funds for screening tests. Last year 209 people were screened and 26 were identified as having a heart defect.”
Screenings were held at Langley Park Primary School for the first time last year, and following their success a further 200 young people were screened over the Bank Holiday weekend. Elaine, who works as a personal learning coach, said: “At the screening they have an ECG and if there is anything detected they go for an ecocradiogram.”
Elaine added: “A lot of people are not aware of it. Through our fundraising we have been able to raise awareness as well.”
Each screen costs £50 so the family has been raising funds to ensure the potentially lifesaving test can be carried out for years to come.
Elaine said: “It costs around £10,000 to do it over the two days.
“We hold a walk in Durham that is organised by CRY which has helped raise quite a bit of awareness.”
Dr Steven Cox, chief executive of CRY, said: “On behalf of all of us at CRY, I would like to say thank you to Linda Smith, as well as her friends, family and the entire local community who have worked so hard to raise the funds needed to bring cardiac screening to Durham in memory of her son, Robert, as well as making an incredible impact in terms of raising awareness about young sudden cardiac death and the work that CRY does to prevent these tragedies.”
He added: “I find it humbling that bereaved families are able to support us – often driven by the will to prevent other parents, siblings, partners and friends from having to endure the same devastating grief as they have.”