The fiancée of a heart attack victim hopes the intervention of her MP could see compulsory cardiac screening for young people discussed in the House of Commons.
Louise Ayre’s fiancé, Adam Swanwick, from Catterall, died in September last year after suffering a sudden heart attack on the way to taste the food for their upcoming wedding. He was 28-years-old.
Since Adam’s death, Louise, plus her friends and family, have been raising money for the charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young).
They set up the A.D.A.M. Appeal and on the day which would have been their wedding, Louise held a charity football match at Garstang FC, raising more than £15,000.
She is campaigning for compulsory scanning for heart defects in young people and attempting to fund more defibrillators - equipment which could have saved Adam’s life.
Together with CRY the legal secretary has been trying to get 100,000 signatures on an e-petition to trigger an automatic parliamentary debate.
Now the MP for Wyre and Preston North, Ben Wallace, has said he will back her campaign.
Louise, 26, from Garstang, said: “Ben has said he will go into parliament and try and talk about it without the 100,000 signatures.
“It’s fantastic because he must understand how difficult it is to get 100,000 signatures on an e-petition.
“We only got involved after Adam died, it had been running for seven to eight months since CRY set it up.
“We’ve had a massive leap from about 2,000 to 8,500 but that is obviously still a long way off.
“He has been so supportive, which is just fantastic.
“Ben is already a big supporter of CRY.”
Two of the trustees of the A.D.A.M. Appeal, James Mullin and Pam Bailey, met with the MP to discuss the cause.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Wallace said: “I hope one day that defibrillators will become as widespread and understood as smoke alarms or fire extinguishers and that their use will be part of the most basic first aid training.”
To find out more about the charity visit www.facebook.com/theadamappeal.
To sign the petition to encourage the Government to change its policy on cardiac screening in young people visit http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31819.
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