Dan Cook died in May 2024 from a sudden cardiac arrest when he was just 10 weeks away from getting married.
His family set up a fund and called on the Government to screen younger people for hidden heart conditions, which are not widely available for those under the age of 35.
After raising tens of thousands of pounds, the family paid for two sessions to screen 200 young people in Hartlepool for free.
Dan’s mum, Lesley Perkins, said: “It is a little bittersweet as we think Dan would still be alive had screenings been available for young people. But at least we have screened 200 people at these sessions, and at least one person will find out they have something wrong with their heart.”
She added: “Isn’t that amazing – that they get the chance our son didn’t have? It’s good to know the family is doing something so others don’t have to go through what we went through”.
The family returned to Dan’s secondary school, the High Tunstall College of Science, to host the screenings in partnership with Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity.
Headmaster Mark Tilling said he hoped more sessions would be run in the future.
“When the family approached me, I jumped at the chance. Why wouldn’t you have them in?” he said. “They’ve raised all this money in memory of Dan. Let’s have it in our school, our alumni being recognised as part of what he and his family have done to support the children, why would you say no?”
A Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson has praised the family’s “fantastic work to raise awareness” around cardiac death in the young.
It said the UK National Screening Committee had since opened a public consultation relating to screening for conditions associated with sudden cardiac death in young people, and it encouraged people to submit evidence.
Author: Ian
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