Family's mission to turn tragedy into awareness and hope for others

RAISING FUNDS FOR DAY-LONG HEART SCREENING EVENT

- By HANNAH CORKEN

A FAMILY devastated by the sudden death of their 24-year-old daughter are marking what would have been her 50th year with an awareness campaign to prevent similar tragedies.

Josephine Chatterton suffered sudden cardiac death (SCD) from an undiagnosed heart condition that would have been picked up with screening, 26 years ago on Sunday, May 11.

Now, her family have joined forces with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to raise funds for 100 young people to be screened in a special day-long session in North East Lincolnshire.

A Just Giving page has been launched to raise the £6,800 needed to bring the equipment and specialists to the area.

Josephine's mum Monica Chatterton MBE, former chief executive of the Grimsby homeless charity Doorstep, said her family had thought long and hard about a doing something in her daughter's memory.

"Despite the passing years, as a family we still live with the devastation of losing Jo," she said.

"The sudden loss of a young person shatters families, coming out of the blue with no apparent prior medical warning."

Josephine's death in 1999 came just after she had achieved a master's degree in music at Huddersfield University, setting her on course for a career in Music Therapy.