Family’s fight for heart screenings is to be offered to young people
NATHAN BRYAN DIED OF A SUDDEN HEART ATTACK
A NORTH Lincolnshire mum whose son tragically died of a sudden cardiac arrest says she will “fight all the way” for the NHS to provide compulsory heart screenings for young people, as 12 people aged 35 and under die from undiagnosed heart conditions each week.
Nathan Bryan, 31, died in his sleep at his Broughton home in
February 2019, with a post-mortem examination establishing his cause of death as Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS), a condition where someone has a sudden cardiac arrest without an obvious cause.
Despite his younger sister being diagnosed with a heart condition when she was 12, doctors assured his family that Nathan would not need to be tested if he was not showing any symptoms.
Since his death, Nathan’s mum Gill Ayling, who lives in Scawby, has fundraised tirelessly for the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity, which provides heart screenings for young people aged between 14 and 35 up and down the country.
In January 2023, £11,000 of funds raised allowed for a screening event at Hope House in Scunthorpe, where 186 young people were screened for heart conditions.
12 of them displayed concerning results and were referred to the Cardiology department at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
Gill told Scunthorpe Live: “With Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, 80 percent of young people have no symptoms, and the other 20 percent are often misdiagnosed with palpitations, asthma, or stress, and they go on to die from a cardiac arrest.
“These problems can be picked up with just a simple ECG, and it seems unfair that the NHS don’t offer screenings to young people unless they have symptoms.
“But I know of a lot of cases where people have gone to their GP with symptoms, and still haven’t been screened.”
As well as fundraising for the CRY charity through community platform The Beat Goes On, Gill has also visited Westminster several times alongside Scunthorpe MP, Holly MumbyCroft, to discuss the issue of heart screenings for young people with ministers. Next month, she will attend a roundtable committee meeting with MPs, government officials and charities, with plans to then debate the matter in Parliament.
Gill Ayling
“It’s a long process, we’ll fight all the way,” said Gill.
“I don’t want other families to go through what we have gone through.
“The NHS should offer screenings to young people, because everyone has the right to have their heart checked.”
On Saturday, April 13, a charity ball, sponsored by Bank Hairdressing in Brigg, will be held at Forest Pines Hotel, with proceeds from ticket sales going directly to the CRY charity.
I don’t want other families to go through what we have gone
through
■■Tickets cost £45 each and include a three-course meal, live entertainment and much more.
For more information visit, www.thebankhairdressing.com/ball