10 years of cardiac screening in memory of local Sheffield High School pupil Alexandra Reid

The national charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) always supports, recognises and applauds the achievements of every family, individual and community who raises funds to provide specialist cardiac screening for young people in their local area, school or sports club.

However, when families meet particular milestones - such as Rotherham mum, Heather Reid who has been screening young people across the East Midlands and Sheffield for a decade, in memory of her daughter Alexandra - it’s wonderful when they have the opportunity to express a special thank you to everyone who’s helped them in their quest to raise funds and awareness and to reflect on the impact of their achievements as part or CRY’s ongoing mission to prevent sudden cardiac death in young people.

Speaking on behalf of her husband, John, daughter Jenn and everyone’s who’s supported the Alexandra Reid Memorial Fund, Heather (a retired physiotherapist from Thorpe Salvin) says;

“Saturday 28th September marked 10 years of cardiac screening in memory of my daughter Alexandra Reid. Once again, we held it at Sheffield High School where Alex was a pupil until she sadly died in her sleep the night before sitting her final GCSE in 2012.

“101 young people were screened with 4 referrals and 19 review letters written by CRYs expert screening doctor. We started providing screening in partnership with CRY in 2014 and, due to 10 years of working incredibly hard to raise funds and awareness, CRY’s screening data now shows that we have tested the hearts of 1700 young people in memory of Alex, which has led to over 60 young people being identified with cardiac abnormalities requiring further investigation and potentially life-saving treatment.

“This September really did mark a milestone for our family. Since 2014, we have held a screening session in conjunction with a netball tournament in Alex's memory. Each year, without fail, the sun shines and the teams (from Years 11 to 13) enjoy a morning of fun, fierce yet sporting competition and time to catch up with friends from a wonderful netball community.

“This year the competition was close with Woodhouse Grove School winning both the Performance and Social categories. The total monies raised from the event came to £1650 ( which included entrance fees, money raised from cake sales, personal donations, and auction of an Andy Murray signed photograph).

“Huge thanks as ever to the CRY screening team, Sheffield High School, for holding the event and for your ongoing support both to Alex and Jenn as pupils, as well as during the last 12 years since Alex died- you are a special community.“And finally thank you everyone for your generosity and support.”

Dr Steven Cox, CRY’s Chief Executive, adds, “I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Heather, John and Jenn for their unwavering commitment and years of fundraising on behalf of CRY, in memory of their daughter and sister, Alexandra. We don’t receive any Government funding and simply wouldn’t be able to provide our vital services and pioneering screening programme without the support of families such as the Reids – combined with the dedication and energy of their local community across South Yorkshire.

“I’m proud to report that our screening programme has evolved so much over the past decade. Thanks to fundraising, research and better understanding of screening protocols, we have streamlined our cardiac testing programme to such a standard that we are now able to test up almost 30,000 young people every year, with our mobile screening team travelling to venues around the UK, almost every day of the week.

“Over the past decade, Heather and John have campaigned, raised awareness, shared their story with the media, organised events and met with MPs – and of all these efforts have played a key part in helping us to move closer to a time when every young person will be able to have their heart screened.”

Most of CRY’s screenings take place in community settings (schools, colleges, church halls and sports clubs) across the UK. Two Saturdays in every month, around 100 young people (aged 14-35) are also screened for free at CRY’s National Screening Centre, now based in Leatherhead, Surrey.

Many of the young people who are identified through community screenings with potential abnormalities will be referred back to CRY’s Consultant Cardiologist, Professor Sanjay Sharma and his expert team at St George’s Hospital, London for further investigations or to a specialist centre for Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) in their local areas.

The vast majority of CRY’s screenings are funded by families (such as the Reids) who have been affected by a young sudden cardiac death, so there is no charge to the individual when CRY’s mobile cardiac screening service comes to a local venue.

CRY uses a very simple, effective and non-invasive way of diagnosing most cardiac abnormalities. It is a quick, painless and affordable procedure called an electrocardiogram (ECG), which is reviewed by a specially trained medic. If a young person is found to have an abnormality, CRY will also swiftly refer them for Echocardiogram screen (ultrasound) and ongoing, more in-depth investigations, as necessary.

For more information about CRY please visit www.c-r-y.org.uk or to book a screening near you, go to www.testmyheart.org.uk