Enfield Ignatians raise awareness of heart problems alongside CRY charity
Enfield Ignatians RFC members are to have heart screening overseen by the CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) charity.
Ignatians are striving to provide the best facilities and care for their members, and screening will be available to all players between the ages of 14 and 35 with any additional spaces available offered to family members.
“Enfield Ignatians are acutely aware that heart screening is often something family and friends champion after the death of a player from a previously undiagnosed heart condition,” said Club spokesman Martin Baker. “We are determined to minimise the risks of this happening.
“Research reveals that around a dozen people aged 35 and below lose their lives to sudden cardiac death in the UK every week, although this figure could in fact be higher.
“A staggering 80% had shown no previous sign of any heart defects until it was too late – which is why CRY believes screening is so important: a view also endorsed by us at Ignatians.”
Ignatians had hoped to roll this scheme out in 2020, having raised the necessary funds from the proceeds of the club’s Platinum Ball in 2019, until the pandemic put everything on hold.
It will now take place in June with the club planning to ensure that CRY screening takes place at least every two years, with the hope that it will also be extended to other sports clubs within the local community.
Although screening will not necessarily identify all those in the at risk category, the figures in Italy, where screening is mandatory for all young people involved in organised sport, and which has led to sudden cardiac death rates plummeting by 90%, are a cause for optimism.
Enfield Ignatians also rallied to the call to help the people of war-torn Ukraine as an estimated 50 boxes of vital materials bound for Eastern Europe left the club’s Donkey Lane headquarters last month.
Prompted by a call for help by the Polish School in Enfield, club President
Kevin Linnane, used social media to appeal to all club members to donate to alleviate the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
In addition to food, the club’s shopping list also comprised first aid kits, wound dressings and tourniquets.
“It wasn’t just club members who rallied to the call,” said Baker. “Local residents who had read about the initiative on the club's Facebook platform also donated generously.”
Further information about CRY’s screening programme can be found on www.testmyheart.org.uk
