Brothers In Arms

On September 4th 2011, our lives changed forever. Our precious and caring son Aaron was gone forever. Nothing feels real anymore, we miss him so much – his presence, his laugh, his voice, everything about him. Our lives will never be the same again. Aaron has left a gaping hole in our hearts and lives. Losing our son was sudden and nothing prepared us for the shock especially when we were told the

cause of death was ARVC – Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy – a genetic heart defect. It just didn't seem right, Aaron was extremely fit and healthy, he played football for a team in Altrincham and was a member of a gym. Little did we know that all this exercising was actually aggravating the undetected heart defect he had. Since losing Aaron we have set up a Memorial Fund which is ring fenced within the Charity CRY – Cardiac Risk In The Young. We have been fundraising with the help of our family and friends. Aaron's friends have been a massive support to the Charity, taking part in a Skydive, The London Marathon, Paris to Barcelona Bike Ride and The Born Survivor. All the monies raised will be used to fund Screening Days in the area. We held 2 such days in July last year where 200 young adults were screened, with 12 being referred for
further testing. This has shown that these Screening Days need to continue and we have secured 3 further days this year. The Screening Days identify cardiac abnormalities and involve an ECG in the first instance. Anyone with an abnormal ECG on the day will also receive an Echocardiogram followed
by a full cardiac evaluation. Two previous health problems, diagnosed as dehydration, could have been an indication of the underlying condition Aaron had, which could have been
Identified had he had a chance to be screened. This living nightmare is ongoing for us as a family as our 22 year old daughter has to be tested annually for the same heart defect. A simple and quick ECG could save the lives of the 12 fit and healthy young people who die each week in the UK from an undiagnosed heart defect. This is why we have made
It our aim to have as many young people as possible tested in the area, we do not want another family to have to go through the heartache we face every day.