Two free cardiac screening sessions will be held in Scunthorpe this month, thanks to fundraising spearheaded by a couple who lost their son to an undiagnosed heart condition.
A community group set up by Gill and Steve Ayling, of Scawby, five years on from their son Nathan Bryan’s death aged just 31, raises money to enable cardiac screenings for young people aged 14 to 35 to take place. The next two sessions will be held at Hope House, Scunthorpe, on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 16 and 17.
Gill said: “We put out an invitation via our charity The Beat Goes On 31’s Facebook page, and both sessions are now fully booked up. There will be 100 screenings on both days – Hope House is wonderful as they turn it into an ‘A&E’.
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“Three pods get set up for carrying out ECGs, there is echocardiography upstairs and a doctor who does any referrals.” The Beat Goes On 31, working in conjunction with CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young, held two screening days last year which resulted in 12 young people being referred to cardiology.
One of them was a young mum of two, Georgia Guy, who had no symptoms but was found to have numerous bleeding holes in her heart. Gill said: “Georgia had her operation in February – she’s as good as gold now.”
(Image: The Beat Goes On 31/Facebook)
She added: “Twelve young people in the UK die every week of undiagnosed heart conditions, and they show no symptoms. A simple ECG can reduce deaths by 90 per cent. We are campaigning in Government to get these tests on the NHS.”
Gill has recently contacted Andrew Gwynne MP, the new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, and Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin, in the hope of gaining their support.
She continued: “We are trying in Government to get national screening done automatically, once young people reach a certain age, like they do with other health screening programmes.”
The Beat Goes On 31 has been announced as a finalist in the BBC Radio Humberside 2024 Make a Difference Awards, in the Fundraiser Award category, having been nominated by Georgia. The charity will find out its fate at a ceremony in Beverley Minster in September.
(Image: The Beat Goes On 31/Facebook)
Wishing good luck to fellow finalists, the group said in a post: “We are very humbled and honoured to be have nominated by Georgia Guy for BBC Radio Humberside 2024 ‘Make a Difference Awards’ … it is amazing news.
“Thank you very much to everyone who supports our fundraising to provide cardiac screening for young people in our community. The cardiac screening we fund and provide in conjunction with CRY would not be possible without your hard work and commitment to our project , and it’s very much appreciated.”
Georgia, 24, told the BBC she had no idea of any pre-existing heart conditions until the screening. “I was just speechless, I just started crying,” she said.
“I’ve got two very young kids so if I didn’t have this done they’d be left without a mother. Gill and Steve basically did save my life.”
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Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
