Family of late hurler help young athletes to get heart screening

The family of late Tipperary hurler Dillon Quirke are launching a screening programme to help save the lives of young athletes who might have heart problems.

The 24-year-old collapsed and died during a match while captaining his team, Kilruane MacDonaghs, at Semple Stadium, Thurles, in August 2022.

He was marking his best friend, Craig Morgan, at the time. Fit and healthy, Dillon’s last words were: “Craig, tell the ref to stop. I’m going to faint.”

His cause of death was later recorded as sudden adult death syndrome (SADS).

“Losing a child is like living a nightmare every day, the pain is inexplicable,” said Dillion’s father, Dan.

Mr Quirke was speaking at the launch of the Dillon Quirke Foundation, a registered charity that aims to reduce the number of young people dying from SADS. On average, 100 die in Ireland each year due to the condition.

“Many of these deaths could be prevented by identifying heart conditions at an early stage before they cause symptoms, through cardiac screening,” Mr Quirke said at the launch event yesterday in Buswells Hotel in Dublin.

“We have set up the foundation in Dillon’s memory to create more understanding of how cardiac screening can help save lives.”

Through a partnership with Advanced Medical Services (AMS), a provider of on-site medical services, the Dillon Quirke Foundation plans to screen at least 10,000 young people aged 12 to 18 this year, with an initial focus on those who play Gaelic games, soccer and rugby.

The foundation has already raised €1.3m to help roll out its screening programme.

The launch event, chaired by ex-footballer Niall Quinn, included a panel of athletes, parents and managers who spoke of their experiences and real-life stories of cardiac screening and SADS.

Alan Byrne, a medical director with AMS and the FAI, who is also a GP, said screening in medicine began with a pathology, whether that be a rhythm disturbance, myopathy (muscle disorder) or heart conduction issues.

He described cardiac screening as “really important” and a “simple process”, taking 25 minutes and involving a questionnaire on family history, an examination and a DCG heart test.

“Parents and guardians need to know, the screen may show something that needs further investigation, but at the end of the day, if it saves your child’s life, then that’s the purpose,” he added.

Mayo footballer Saoirse Lally spoke of her own experience after she was diagnosed with a heart condition last February following a routine cardiac screening of the entire county panel.

“I remember that morning we were saying, ‘Sure, what’s the point, we’re all so fit and healthy’,” she said.

Afterwards, Ms Lally received a call from a clinic telling her to come in “urgently” for a heart procedure. She had pre-excitation syndrome, making her heart beat too quickly.

“That was a big shock and took me a few days to come to terms with,” she said, adding that three weeks ago she underwent keyhole surgery in Dublin.

“Last week I returned to training and the gym and everything. Now my heart feels completely different, but what it felt like before I thought was completely normal, even though it wasn’t,” she said.

“I feel a lot better mentally now knowing that I’m playing and living in a safer way and that the cardiac screening essentially saved my life.”

Tom Boland, whose 14-year-old daughter Niamh was playing with the under-14 Tipperary camogie panel and her club, told of how she started experiencing “breathing difficulties” in 2021 despite being super-0fit.

Niamh was referred to Crumlin Hospital, where she was screened, and doctors diagnosed her with two cardiac conditions linked to SADS. Niamh has since returned to sport, playing in goal for under-17 camogie.

Mr Boland said his family were “one of the lucky ones.”

Niall Quinn said there was no doubt that cardiac screening can save lives.

The foundation wants the Government to provide free cardiac screening for all young people and is calling on the national governing bodies of high-intensity sports to make screening mandatory for young competitors.