THE mother of a man who died suddenly from an undiagnosed heart condition has spearheaded a fundraising campaign to test scores of young people.

Hilary Edwards' campaign has seen £8,000 raised so far for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) - another £500 will be enough to screen 100 local 14- to 35-year-olds. Thereafter, for each £5,000 raised, a further 100 can be screened.

Mrs Edwards, a volunteer representative for CRY, said: "My aim is to help prevent young sudden cardiac arrests by raising awareness and by fundraising so that we can have screenings of young people in the area."

Her son, Gary, 28, died suddenly during a trip with friends, including his twin brother, Rob, to Poland in July 2015, just weeks before he was due to get married.

A Polish coroner and CRY expert Dr Mary Shepherd have since concluded that Gary, who lived in Staplegrove and worked for construction company Skanska, most likely died from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).

Around 12 young people in the UK die of an undiagnosed heart complaint every week - for further information visit www.c-r-y.org.uk