Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brother and sister in 5k tributes to sudden death dad
Siblings running to raise funds for cardiac charity
TWO children are doing a series of 5k runs in memory of their dad who died from an undiagnosed sudden adult death condition six years ago.
Graeme Kilpatrick passed away at the age of 31 on May 5, 2015 – just one day after he had been celebrating his son Josh’s first birthday.
He had a slight temperature and had been feeling like he was coming down with a flu but had no worrying symptoms.
Following his sudden passing, it was discovered he had brugada syndrome.
Now, his two children, Faith, nine, and seven-year-old Josh, are doing the runs in aid of charity Cardiac Risk in the Young in memory of their dad.
Their mum Janice Maxwell said: “The day after the party, we just went to bed as usual. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Then in the middle of the night he started snoring really loudly and my first thought was, ‘Would you ever shut up?’. But then his left hand raised and I just knew something wasn’t right.
“I put the lights on and he was just gasping for air. I went into frenzy mode. I phoned the ambulance and they were talking me through CPR. I didn’t know he was dying at the time, I had no idea what was happening.”
Doctors didn’t initially know what had caused Graeme’s death, but after testing his relatives, it was discovered he had a sudden adult death condition called brugada.
RARE
It is a rare but serious condition that affects the way electrical signals pass through the heart. It can cause the heart to beat dangerously fast.
Janice said: “For me it was a massive wake-up call as to what life is all about and how it can be taken away from you so suddenly.
“He was only 31, he was so young and he had no prior symptoms. It was just terrible.”
Following Graeme’s passing, Janice began to run as she found she had an “overwhelming amount of energy” from built-up anxiety and stress. She began to do runs to raise funds for CRY.
As a way to help process her grief, she suggested a series of sponsored runs to Faith and soon brother Josh was keen to get involved too.
Janice said: “I told her sometimes a good way to deal with your grief is to give back, to try and do something for a worthy cause, or something she can do that would make her daddy proud.”
With their first run in three weeks time, Faith is “excited” and has even got a few of her friends on board.
Janice added: “She’s totally excited about it. Everything’s going in the right direction.”
I told her sometimes the best way to deal with your grief is to give back JANICE MAXWELL YESTERDAY