ONE young person dies every month from an undiagnosed heart condition in Northern Ireland, new figures reveal.
The figures relate to people under the age of 35. Statistics from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) also show that around 17,500 people in the north are at risk of sudden death from silent heart conditions with many living with a faulty gene putting them at high risk of a heart attack at a young age or sudden death.
Thousands more are at risk of dying prematurely because of other non-genetic heart defects including abnormal heart rhythms.
For many families, the first sign there’s a problem is when someone dies suddenly with no obvious cause or explanation.
Hilary Niblock from Lisburn, who lost her son Kris in 2014, just days before his 21st birthday, said: "It was a lovely evening so we were getting ready to have a barbecue and Kris was out working on his friend’s car.
"His friend came running in and said Kris is lying at the side of the car. We thought maybe he’s been electrocuted. The ambulance came and rushed him to Lagan Valley Hospital.
"When he got there they must have worked on him for two to three hours but there was nothing more they could do. Nothing can prepare you hearing that.
"I just kept thinking this can’t be happening."
The family later discovered that Kris's death was due to an electrical fault in his heart.
"I know now there was nothing we could have done but you're tortured by thoughts of what if," she said.
"I don't want any family to go through what we've gone through. More research is needed so no family has to suffer the loss of their child so unexpectedly."
BHF-funded research has helped pioneer technology like implantable cardioverter-defibrillator ICD implants which treat a dangerous heart rhythm as well as discovering many of the faulty genes that cause inherited heart conditions.
The charity launches a new television campaign on Wednesday night to raise awareness of the sudden devastation caused by heart disease.
BHF specialist heart nurse Karen McCammon said more research is urgently needed to better detect and treat these conditions.
"The reality is that there are thousands of people across Northern Ireland who are unaware that they could be at risk of sudden death because from the outside they are perfectly healthy," she said.
"There are people out there who kiss their loved ones goodnight or goodbye in the morning and don’t wake up or don’t come home.
"Thanks to the public’s kind support, BHF-funded researchers have made major discoveries in these frightening heart conditions but we urgently need to fund more research to better understand these heart conditions, make more discoveries, develop new treatments and save more lives."
