“Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) was set up in 1995 by our founder, my mother Alison Cox MBE. I’m always mindful of the fact that much of the inspiration behind CRY comes from my own experience when, as a teenager, I was identified with a potentially serious heart abnormality during a routine screening in the US, where I’d just been accepted on a prestigious tennis scholarship. ‘I was seemingly at peak fitness, so felt utterly shocked when the university’s cardiologist told me I should never raise a sweat again and that my tennis career was effectively over.”

Dr Steven Cox, Chief Executive of CRY

At around the same time, Alison became aware of the story of John Marshall, a 16-year-old who had collapsed and died suddenly from undiagnosed Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy the day before he was due to start a football career with Everton FC. 

Alison was determined to increase awareness of this issue and to provide heart screenings for young people, along with setting up a group for those diagnosed with a condition, and bereavement support for the families and friends of those who tragically die before such problems are identified.

“In 80% of cases of young sudden cardiac death, there will have been no warning signs, so early detection enables medical interventions that can save lives. We’re so proud now that CRY’s UK-wide, subsidised cardiac screening programme for people between the ages of 14 – 35 tests around 25,000 young people every year.

“Identifying the problem is only the start – being young and suddenly finding that you need to be treated for a heart condition is not easy, so we also provide personalised help, support, and information to individuals in terms of developing effective coping strategies and dealing with issues such as the fitting of ICDs and pacemakers, long term medication and undergoing surgery.

“Every week in the UK at least 12 apparently fit and healthy young people die suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition. For families and friends coping with the devastating and tragic aftermath, sometimes just speaking to someone who has been through a similar experience, or reading their personal stories, really helps, and we offer bespoke support from our network of trained Bereavement Supporters, all of whom have themselves been affected by a young sudden cardiac death.

CRY also offers clinical support through expert pathology to help identify and understand the cause of death, and access to trained cardiologists for swift family assessments, raises awareness amongst the general public and within the medical community, and funds an internationally-acclaimed research programme, investigating young sudden cardiac death.

‘We’re extremely passionate about the work we do and we couldn’t do any of it without our fundraising and donations like this from Flint Insurance. With the exception of a one-off grant from the Department of Health in 2002 to help fund our Bereavement Support Programme, we’ve never received any financial support from the Government, so we’re really grateful to both Flint and Ecclesiastical Insurance for their help.’

‘CRY is particularly important to me personally since a cousin of mine died from undiagnosed cardiac issues some years ago. But it was really brought home to the whole company when we lost one of our young team, Barry Habgood, to sudden cardiac death last year. Barry was only twenty-eight, and very fit, and recently engaged – it’s an unbelievable tragedy, and anything we can do to help CRY to prevent it happening to others has to be a good thing.’

Flint Insurance Director Michelle Gould