A man who lost his brother suddenly to heart disease at just 26 years old has urged young people to get their hearts checked. Dan Mason’s brother Dean died in 2010, due to an undiagnosed heart condition which took the whole family by surprise.
Describing him as a "gentle giant with a placid temperament", Dan remembers his brother as a kind person who was very family orientated, as they spent much of their lives working together.
The pair ran the family business, the Mason Brothers Quarry Products. But outside of work, Dean was an active person with a passionate motor sports fan, interested in all things with cars, and car racing- and much like lots of people in their twenties, enjoyed spending quality time with his friends.
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In Dean's early life, he grew up in Lampeter Velfrey near Narberth, and attended Tavernspite County Primary School. He went on to study at Dyffryn Taf Secondary School. Since his death, fundraising has now allowed them to hold multiple screenings at his secondary school to help prevent other young people from dying from undiagnosed heart conditions.
Describing what it was like to deal with his brother's death, Dan, from Tenby, said: “He didn’t play sports or anything but was a very fit and healthy individual. It was extremely tough for all of us as a family to go through as you would imagine and required a lot of support from each of us. A lot of the time you do get the chance to prepare and understand that somebody is not well, but coping with it after a shock like that is a lot to deal with.”
He added: “It is hard to talk about because I think it’s sometimes associated with individuals of a certain age, so when you approach it with a young generation it does concern them because of the terminology. But when you learn more you find out that there are lots of different ways of handling conditions, and you can only understand that from talking about it or getting screened.”
Dan Mason became a regional representative for CRY which is a charity that provides free heart screenings to young people. After Dean’s death, more than £225,000 has now been raised in his memory to help screenings to continue in south Wales. Dean's passing has now changed Dan’s life, as he has to now carefully monitor his own health in case he develops any similar problems.
He said: “I have to monitor myself quite a lot now and get regular screenings. Getting people to understand why they might need to be screened is quite difficult, because when I was that age I really thought I was indestructible.
"If you’d have told me when I was eighteen playing rugby to go and get screened I’d have probably palmed it off, and been like- there’s nothing wrong with me, but it is really important."
The next free screenings around the UK are scheduled to take place in January, 2023- but the charity is still catching up with a long waiting list after the impact of Covid-19.
CRY's CEO, Dr Steven Cox said: “CRY was originally founded in 1995 by Alison Cox who set up the charity to support families after a young, sudden death and that’s not changed. It’s very much about trying to help them and find out what caused the tragedy.”
Discussing the need for more of a light to be shone on the issue, Dr Stevens added: “We do a lot to prevent accidents like road traffic accidents. We go to such lengths to try and prevent people from dying that it’s shocking to me more isn’t done to prevent deaths caused by heart conditions which is one of the most common causes of death for young people and this is one of the fundamental problems we’ve had with policymakers over the years.
“They have refused to engage with us around the incidents of young, sudden deaths and we’ve said that the figures they’re producing are incorrect, and not showing the scale of the issue. If you are worried about your heart and have any symptoms of heart disease like fainting or you should see your GP as soon as possible."
Every week in the UK, around 12 young people under the age of 35 die suddenly from a previously undiagnosed heart condition- and 80% of these deaths will occur with no prior symptoms.
Since 2004, CRY has carried out 95 screenings across Wales, testing around 9,000 young people to date, and in 2012, the charity held a high-profile event and photo-call at National Assembly in Cardiff, raising awareness for the charity and the importance of screening. Most recently, people have been getting involved in the charity’s ‘12 A Week’ campaign where people have been raising money for the charity after walking at least 12 miles every seven days.
To donate to the charity or find out more about screening, you can visit CRY’s website at: https://www.c-r-y.org.uk/
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