A FROME couple are still as determined as they were 16 years ago, to raise awareness of the dangers of undiagnosed heart conditions in young people after the loss of their own son.
In March 2000, Dave and Shirley Wort’s son Julian died suddenly of a undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 28. In memory of their son, they set up the ‘Julian Wort Memorial Fund’ through the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in 2001 and since then, have raised £42,739.
“I want to say a big, big thank you to the Frome community,” said Shirley.
“There’s so much fundraising that goes in Frome, not just for Julian’s memorial fund, but for so many other charities.
“It’s a wonderful community and I’m overwhelmed by the support and fundraising in memory of Julian. It’s lovely that he has not been forgotten.”
With the money raised, Shirley and Dave have been able to donate two ECG machines and two defibrillators to local hospitals, and organise three local CRY heart screening sessions that in total saw 278 young people screened, aged between 14 and 35-years old. A fourth screening day has been organised for June next year.
“At the last screening around five people were identified to have heart abnormalities and went on to have further tests,” said Shirley. “Hopefully this is five more lives that have been saved, and that feels great.
“I would hate what happened to my family to happen to anyone else. It is every mother and father’s nightmare, to have a healthy child and then to receive a call that something has happened.”
The couple are soon to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary and are planning on continuing their efforts to raise awareness. “We are still going strong and are as determined as ever to raise awareness.
“This gives us something to focus on in memory of Julian. My vision is for every 14 to 35-year old in the UK to be screened, so any heart abnormalities can be picked up as soon as possible.”
To donate to the Julian Wort Memorial Fund, please visit www.c-r-y. org.uk/julian-wort/ More details about CRY and the work that they do can be found at www.c-r-y.org.uk/
Correction from the last issue
FROME Times would like to apologise for an error made in the last issue (488).
In the story about the Frome Lions club presenting a cheque to the Julian Wort Memorial Fund, the wrong name was given for Shirley Wort.
