This weekend (Saturday and Sunday, January 23 and 24) around 200 local young people will be screened by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) thanks to the outstanding fundraising efforts of the family and friends of Dean Mason, who tragically died from a previously undiagnosed heart condition whilst on a family holiday in 2010, aged just 26.

The Dean Mason Memorial Fund has already brought CRY’s screening team to Carmarthenshire when 200 people were screened back in April 2015 and before that, in 2013. This year, the screening weekend (to be held at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, North Road, Whitland) will also be underpinned by the announcement of the tremendous donation of an entire screening unit, comprising a new van, three electrocardiogram (ECG) machines (which trace the rhythm of the heart) and an echocardiogram machine (which uses sound waves to build up a detailed picture of the heart, similar to the ultrasound scan used in pregnancy).

A spokesperson for the family said: “We all want to thank the entire local community for all of their support and fundraising efforts in memory of Dean. Without them the new screening unit wouldn’t have been possible.”

Every week, 12 apparently fit and healthy young (aged 35 and under) people lose their lives to sudden cardiac death in the UK - a statistic that is believed to be a conservative estimate. A staggering 80 per cent of these apparently healthy young people who die from young sudden cardiac death will have shown no previous sign of heart defects until it is too late - which is why CRY believes screening is vitally important. Indeed, the charity now tests around 23,000 young people each year.

Founder of CRY, Alison Cox MBE, said: “As a charity, we are always so grateful for the fundraising efforts of our supporters, in helping us to deliver our screening programme, bereavement support network and ground-breaking research.

“It takes enormous courage for bereaved families to become involved in this way, although we know many find it a positive experience to be actively doing something that could help to save another life and prevent other families from having to suffer in the way they have - as well as creating a lasting legacy through proactive screening that reaches out to other young people. From everyone at CRY, I would also like to say an enormous ‘thank you’ to everyone involved with the Dean Mason Memorial Fund for donating such an invaluable amount of screening equipment, which will bring enormous benefits to our ever-expanding screening programme and will allow us to meet the demands for cardiac testing in young people both in Wales and throughout the UK.”

Over the past two decades, CRY has received great support in Wales from local families, media and politicians. Since 1995, CRY has carried out 30 screenings across Wales, testing over 2,500 young people for previously undiagnosed heart conditions.

In 2012, CRY held a high profile event at National Assembly in Cardiff, raising huge awareness for the charity and the importance of screening.