MORE than £20,000 has been raised by family and friends of the late David Hill for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in a bid to save young lives locally.
Popular David suddenly passed away at the young age of 30 during the Parliamentary Six Nations fixture between the Scottish Parliamentary Rugby Football Club and the Dàil and Seanad RFC at Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin.
Subsequent medical examinations revealed that he died due to a previously undiagnosed cardiac condition.
And now the David Hill Memorial Fund has been set up by his family and CRY to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death by supporting the charity’s cardiac screening programme.
The aim is solely to fund the cardiac screening of young people within Dumfries and Galloway aged 14-35. One in every 300 young people screened by CRY will be identified with a potentially life-threatening condition. It costs £60 per cardiac screening.
On Saturday, David was remembered as teams from the Scottish and Irish parliaments faced each other in the first annual David Hill Memorial Quaich. It was followed by a fundraising dinner in his honour.
David’s dad Rodger said: “Since November, we have raised around £20,000 but we’re just at the start of this journey to really lobby for change in the Scottish and UK parliaments for a national screening programme for young people so that other families don’t have to go through the same pain that we are in.”
Dr Steven Cox, chief executive of CRY hailed David’s family for helping the charity. He said: “It takes great courage for anyone who has been affected so recently by young sudden cardiac death to be able to see beyond their own situation and to want to raise funds for CRY and prevent other people from ever having to endure the same devastating grief as they have experienced.
“So firstly, on behalf of all of us at CRY, I would like to say a huge “thank you” to David’s family and everyone involved the organisation of the David Hill Memorial Quaich for their ongoing fundraising and support.
“As well as helping to raise vital funds, this event – and future events in coming years – will also raise significant awareness for CRY across Scotland, local communities and amongst parliamentarians, politicians and key decision makers.”
To donate, visit www.c-r-y.org.uk/david-hill/
