Charity with a heart helps screen 50 children

Thursday 04 October 2018

50 school students will receive heart screenings next month thanks to a charity set up in memory of an islander whose heart suddenly stopped while out cycling.

The screenings, which will combine a heart electrocardiogram (ECG) and questionnaire, was made possible due to the fundraising efforts of the Neil Hussey Heart Charity.

The charity was created in January to remember Neil 'Ginge' Hussey, with the aim of provide free heart screenings to detect undiagnosed heart conditions in adults and school children.

The charity has now raised enough funds to be able to provide the screening, worth £95 per person, to 50 teenagers. Les Quennevais School was randomly selected amongst all secondary schools in the island and the testing will take place on 10 and 17 November at Bon Santé Consulting Rooms at Lido Medical Centre between 09:00 and 15:00.

The funds were raised through several initiatives, including one from six colleagues of Neil from Customs and Immigration. They had planned a round-the-island swim in his memory in September but this had to postponed due to poor weather. However, They have assured they will either get in the water next week or early summer next year. Their JustGiving page gathering sponsorship for the relay swim surpassed its fundraising target with donations totalling over £1,400. Last month, islanders also hit the pedals last month as part of the C5 Cycle Challenge to raise more funds for the charity.

 Pictured: The aims of the Neil Hussey Heart Charity.

Blanca Palacin, Neil's wife and founder of the charity, said: "We have raised enough funds for children to receive the heart screening. It consists of a heart electrocardiogram (ECG) and a specific questionnaire that can point out anything that is not going well. We have spoken to the Headteacher at Les Quennevais, Sarah Hague, and she is really excited for the event."

Any student aged 16 who wishes to be tested can do so on the day. Ms Palacin explained: "We are looking for children who are not aware of any conditions they may have and who think they are fit. Ideally, we would like to test people who are active, who practice some sports or are in a team. The school has been given our criteria and the screening will be on a first come, first served basis." 

Cardiologist Dr Andrew Mitchell and the Clinical Investigations team at Hospital will be carrying out the tests. They say that the 16 to 18 age range is the best one to detect any conditions or anomalies as the heart is then fully formed.

This type of screening is sometimes offered to athletes before they can take part in competitive sports. It is designed to pick up a variety of conditions and abnormalities in heart rhythm and conduction, as well as any anomalies in the structure or muscles of the heart. The ECG is particularly useful when it comes to detecting conditions such as an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation), fast heartbeat (long QT syndrome) and some cardiomyopathies.

Pictured: Cardiologist Dr Andrew Mitchell will be carrying out the tests with the Clinical Investigations team.

While the charity's first batch of heart screenings haven’t yet taken place, Ms Palacin says the volunteers are already thinking about the next one. "We may have the opportunity for another exercise in the spring," she said. "We maybe able to offer it to more children then. We will hopefully learn from this first one. We have already received positive feedback to do it better next time.

"To us the benefit is bifold. really. We get to test the children, which gives us some exposure to the parents as well. This helps raise awareness of the charity and what we do and might convince some parents to support us through corporate events or fundraisers."

The charity hopes that, in the future, they will be able to offer the screening to every children leaving secondary school. Ms Palacin is hoping that the support the charity has received in its first few months of existence will continue to bring funds to enable this.

"I hope people keep the momentum going," she said. "I think they will if more people know what we do and that all the funds raised go towards the screenings, we are all volunteers and have no overheads. If more funds come in, we will be able to screen more children, I can see this happen!"