Young adults in Sandbach are being encouraged to attend a free scan to check for underlying heart conditions, which can “kill people in their prime”.
The plea came after research showed that, every week in the UK, at least 12 “apparently fit and healthy” people under the age of 35 died from an undiagnosed heart condition.
Town councillor Ann Nevitt said she was working with the families of loved ones who had died from a previously unknown heart condition, to set up free scans for people living in a CW11 post code.
The heart checks are run by the UK charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), as some young people have no knowledge that they are at risk of health problems.
The charity’s website said: “People often bear no symptoms and are at the peak of their lives. The simple act of walking into a cold shower, hearing the doorbell ring or playing sport can be enough of a shock to the heart to kill them instantly.”
Coun Nevitt said: “I was absolutely astounded when I read about how many kids were dying from heart failure. I’m hoping to raise enough to run the free scans once a year once we’ve set it up.
“Everybody who comes will have an ECG, then if they need it, an echocardiogram. A consultant and doctors will be there to talk to people and answer any questions.”
She explained that the scanning service, which will run across two days in June next year, would be available to people between the ages of 14 and 35.
Around 100 appointments will be available to pre-book each day, and high schools in Sandbach would be contacted first to give pupils priority.
Coun Nevitt said: “The scanner, and all of the personnel who run it, costs £7,000 per day, and you have to register it well in advance.”
Half of the money will be raised through charity events held in the run up to the weekend, while the other £7,000 has been funded by Gemma Holland, whose husband Nicholas died suddenly one night in 2010.
Mr Holland grew up in Ollerton and went on to run the service centre at The Spinney motorhomes company his family owns on Knutsford Road in Cranage.
Mrs Holland said that on the morning of his death her husband had woken with a pain in his jaw and complained all day about indigestion.
She said: “As he had never before had any sign that he had a problem with his heart, we didn’t put the two together at the time.”
Despite feeling uncomfortable all day, she said Mr Holland went to work and then felt well enough to play football that evening.
She said: “He did have to stop halfway through and needed his inhaler, which he only ever used occasionally.”
Mrs Holland said her husband had eaten when he got home and fed their nine-week-old daughter, Grace, her last bottle before going to bed.
She said: “During the night I was awoken by a terrible sound I will never ever forget. Nick was making an awful noise and I thought he was choking because he’d been sick, but he didn’t look right.”
After discovering he had no pulse, Mrs Holland said she dialled 999 and “desperately” tried to give him CPR with instructions from the operator while they waited for an ambulance, which she said took a “horrendously” long time to arrive due to “miscommunication between the operator and the ambulance crew”.
She said: “When they eventually arrived and said there was nothing they could do, my world literally fell apart.”
Scarring later discovered on his heart revealed that Mr Holland had previously suffered two heart attacks and that he had severe heart disease.
Mrs Holland said: “Unfortunately we still don’t know the reason his heart was in such bad condition, as he needed to be tested while he was alive, but supporting a charity like CRY means such a lot to our family.
“Had Nick had access to a screening, there could possibly have been a different outcome.”
Coun Nevitt said a fundraising quiz night was due to be held at Sandbach Rugby Club on Friday, 24th October, at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Coun Nevitt.
Free heart tests are also available at Holmes Chapel Community Centre on Saturday and Sunday, 20th and 21st September.
The screening service, also supported by CRY, has been funded by the family of Mia Jennings, who died at the age of 19 in 2023 after suffering a cardiac arrest.
To book an appointment at Holmes Chapel Community Centre, visit: testmyheart.org.uk/book-appointment.
(Photos: Gemma Holland).
