Team take part in Bognor Regis road race for heart unit

The 40 runners will be taking part in the 10k prom run on May 20 to provide the first visit to Bognor by a heart screening unit.

Their organiser, Gabbie Broadhurst, said the case of Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba showed the need to be aware of cardiac problems in apparently fit and healthy young people.

“We want to raise money so we can provide a mobile heart screening unit to come to Bognor to give as many young people as possible the opportunity to have their heart checked.

“It costs £3,500 to have 100 young people screened in a day.

“We’ve already raised £1,000 and we want to raise enough money – from the run and other fundraising events – so we can get more than 100 screenings carried out.

“What happened to Fabrice Muamba showed what a potentially big problem cardiac risk in the young is.

“But the screening is usually carried out in London and it’s not possible for many people from Bognor to get there.”

The sponsorship will go to the Cardiac Risk in the Young charity.

This will be the second appearance by Team David in the Bognor 10k after more than £3,000 was raised for CRY last year.

This year’s team has the same number of runners but with some different individuals taking part.

The team was formed by Gabbie after the death of her 19-year-old son, David Green, in December 2010.

“Our loss has devastated our family,” she said. “We are still trying to come to terms with it 16 months later.

“Davie had been a keen sportsman and had played hockey and football for Bognor teams from the age of ten.

“Since his loss, I have been passionate about raising awareness of of cardiac risk in the young.

“As a family, we didn’t have the knowledge and had no idea about heart screening.

“If we did, my son might still be here.

“We will continue to raise awareness and hope it will prevent other families from experiencing such a terrible loss.”

Gabbie, 44, has run the Bognor Prom 10k in most of its 18 years for various charities.

But the race has taken on a special poignancy since David’s death.

“David had been in the race several times. I never thought I would be running in it in his memory,” she said.

The race starts at 10.30am at West Park in Aldwick.

See uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/gabbiebroadhurst to make a donation to the fundraising campaign.

See www.bognorprom10k.org for more details about the race itself.