A LOVING brother will be raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in a bid to save young lives.
It comes after Alex Service’s older sibling David Hill, above right, passed away aged just 30 while playing rugby at Donnybrook Stadium in Dublin last year.
Subsequent medical examinations revealed that David, who attended St Joseph’s College in Dumfries, died due to a previously undiagnosed cardiac condition.
Following David’s passing, the David Hill Memorial Fund has been set up by his devastated family and CRY to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death by supporting CRY’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.
And now Alex – and a group of friends – will tackle a three peaks challenge in June to raise money for the fund.
Alex, above left, said: “Every week around 12 young people under the age of 35 die suddenly from undiagnosed heart conditions: 80 per cent of these deaths occur with no symptoms.
“David was a much-loved brother, son, uncle, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend and colleague loved by many and who is missed greatly every day.”
Their challenge will entails climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, all within 24 hours, travel included.
Alex added: “To do this we have a climbing team and a support team who will be at the base of each mountain along with designated drivers. This will all be self-funded with all money raised going towards the fund.
“The climbing team includes myself, Angus Dykes, Finlay Degnan, Lee Martin, Aaron Gemmell, Josh Gemmell, David Hamilton, Stevie Wight and Gareth McCall.”
Initially, Alex set a fundraising target of £2500 but that was met within days so has been increased.
He said: “We’re absolutely blown away with the support from the local community.
“The link has been live for a couple of days and we’ve already smashed through our target. I’ve now put the target up to £5000, we have five months to go so it’s very achievable.”
To donate visit www.gofundme.com/f/3-peaks-for-david
