LOCAL fundraiser, Shirley Wort, has been hailed as a ‘Charity Hero’ for her continued efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of undiagnosed heart conditions in young people, following her son’s death 18 years ago.
Last month, Shirley received a ‘Charity Hero 2017’ medal and certificate from the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
“I felt very humbled,” said Shirley. “To date, my husband and I have raised £42,819. This has been done with the wonderful support from family, friends, and many local organisations in Frome.”
In March 2000, Shirley’s son Julian died suddenly of a undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 28. In memory of her son, Shirley and her husband Dave set up the ‘Julian Wort Memorial Fund’ through CRY in 2001.
With the money raised, Shirley and Dave have been able to donate two ECG machines and two defibrillators to local hospitals, and organised three local CRY heart screening sessions for 278 young people between the ages of 14 and 35. A fourth screening day has been organised for 30th June at Oakfield Academy, which will be available to book on the CRY website in the near future.
For more information visit: www.c-r-y.org.uk.
To donate to the Julian Wort Memorial Fund, please visit: www.c-r-y.org.uk/julian-wort
