Vital testing which could identify previously undiagnosed heart conditions has been offered to BAE Systems apprentices in Barrow today.
The charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), arranged the screening at the suggestion of engineer David Hughes, whose 28-year-old son died suddenly in 2015.
Daniel Hughes was at home on March 18, 2015 and, after saying goodnight to his parents, went to bed as normal. Next morning, when he failed to get up for work, his parents were unable to rouse him. They performed CPR but were unable to revive him.
Since then, David and his family have worked with CRY to draw attention to the range of conditions that can cause young, sudden cardiac death. The charity has brought staff to Barrow to offer heart screening tests for BAE Systems apprentices and over one hundred have signed up.
David said: “From my own personal experience, having lost my son at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition, I can’t stress enough the importance of attending if you have an appointment. It only takes 15 minutes to have the ECG and, if it picks an issue, up the CRY team is on hand to provide advice.”
The screening took place in the newly opened Submarines Academy.
Ian Burns, Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Director for BAE Systems, said: “We’re delighted to host this kind of event. Raising awareness of this condition is vital and if just one person is given advice as a result of the screening it will have been time well spent.”
David added: “It’s great that BAE Systems has decided to screen a number of their new apprentices here in Barrow. We had over one hundred people sign up and I hope this is the start of a regular series of testing that could change and potentially save a life.”
