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More than 200 get heart screening in teen's memory

Helen Burchell
BBC News, Essex
Gary Harvey Jude Harvey with medium-length black hair smiles while looking down. He is wearing a black t-shirt and the background behind him is plain.Gary Harvey
Jude Harvey, a trainee hairdresser, died from the undiagnosed heart condition while on holiday

More than 200 young people turned up for free heart screening sessions aimed at detecting potential cardiac problems.

The sessions were organised by the Jude Harvey Foundation, named after a 19-year-old man who died from an undiagnosed heart condition while on holiday in Ibiza in July 2023.

Jude's father Gary Harvey said the slots at the Civic Centre in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, were fully booked across Saturday and Sunday.

Choking back the tears, he said witnessing the event had made him "really proud - because that's Jude's legacy".

Jude was a trainee hairdresser when he died.

His father said the teenager had showed no signs of any cardiac condition and would go to the gym several times a week with his dad.

"He was perfect - there had never been any reason for him to be checked for this," Mr Harvey said.

Jude Harvey Foundation Jude Harvey, a young man wearing a black t-shirt, uses clippers to practice cutting hair on a mannequin Jude Harvey Foundation
The trainee hairdresser worked alongside his stepmother in her Southend salon

The family set up the foundation to build awareness, raise funding and offer heart screening to detect cardiac problems in others.

The foundation works with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to arrange the sessions for 14 to 35-year-olds.

Those who attend are checked with an ECG (electrocardiogram machine), and if an issue is detected they are offered an echocardiogram to look at the heart and nearby blood vessels and are referred to a doctor.

By the end of Saturday, 16 young people were referred on to their GPs for further tests.

Jo Hudson from CRY said: "Like many families we work with, [the Harveys are] seeing past their own grief in order to make sure no other family has to suffer the same experience."

Stephen Huntley/BBC Young people, including two women nearest the camera, are sitting on chairs with their backs turned. They are inside a hall or large room.Stephen Huntley/BBC
Sixteen young people were referred to their GPs as a result of the screenings

Heart conditions in younger people:

  • Every week in the UK, 12 young people (that is, aged 35 and under) die suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition
  • A total of 80% of these deaths will occur with no prior symptoms
  • About 315,000 young people have been tested by CRY since it was set up in 1995
  • This has identified more than 1,000 young people with potentially life-threatening conditions
  • When a young person is identified with a condition they may have to make lifestyle changes, have corrective surgery, take medication or in some cases they will need to have an ICD (internal cardiac defibrillator)

Source: Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry)

Stephen Huntley/BBC Dr Dimitra Maritsa is looking at the camera. She has long, fair hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a dark jacket and a red lanyard around her neck with the charity Cry's name on itStephen Huntley/BBC
Dr Dimitra Maritsa, a cardiologist, said the tests were "life-saving"

Cardiologist Dr Dimitra Maritsa, who works with CRY, said: "According to the statistics, 12 young individuals die every week, and this is a screening that is very quick, painless and it is life-saving."

Mr Harvey said the family would continue to raise funds for more screening days in the future.

"We have another two planned in August and we will keep doing this for Jude and others like him."

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