DOUBLE Olympic gold medalist Andy Triggs Hodge is calling for routine screenings of young people to pick up potential fatal heart problems.

Mr Triggs Hodge became the patron of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young after a friend and fellow rower passed away.

And this week he lobbied MPs to support the organisation, which wants screenings for secondary school pupils.

Oxford’s only 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Mr Triggs Hodge, 33, lives off Cowley Road and stormed to victory in the men’s rowing fours in the London 2012 Games.

But in 2009 he was left shattered when one of his close friends and team mates at Molesey Rowing Club in Surrey collapsed and died during a training session.

Scott Rennie, 25, had already represented his country at European level and was hoping to win a place on the Team GB Olympic squad alongside Mr Triggs Hodge, when he collapsed on a rowing machine and never regained consciousness.

Mr Triggs Hodge said: “Scott was a great athlete, at the peak of his fitness. No one knew there was a problem with his heart and his death had a devastating effect on his family. “All who knew him found it impossible to believe that such a young man could die in this way.

“But as a patron of the charity CRY I have the opportunity to raise awareness of their great bereavement work and their programme to screen young people for heart defects.” The Olympian attended a CRY reception at the House of Commons this week to encourage more than 80 MPs to give their support.

Every week in the UK, 12 young people aged 14 to 35 die suddenly from undiagnosed heart conditions. Eighty per cent of those have no prior symptoms.

CRY was set up in 1995 and funds a bereavement service and family testing following a sudden cardiac death to determine the risk to other family members. It also runs screening clinics for 14 to 35-year-olds around the country.

A number of Oxfordshire families have been affected this year, when their loved ones died unexpectedly. Many have given their backing to calls for routine screenings.

Mr Triggs Hodge said: “I have also talked about what happened to Scott in a new CRY booklet for the brothers and sisters of young people who have tragically lost their lives to sudden cardiac death.”

Sibling Grief features 10 personal essays from young people who have lost a sibling.

He added: “Whether it’s the death of a fit athlete, or just a kid going about their business, the impact of sudden cardiac death is shattering.”

VICTIMS OF SUDDEN HEART FAILURE

  • Anthony Rowbottom’s brother, Adam, 23, died of heart failure in his sleep at home in Mattock Road, Abingdon, in July 2011. He said: “The more screening the better. I have been screened to check myself out. It gives you peace of mind.”
  • Former Abingdon and Witney College student Charliee Hamer, 18, collapsed and died in Witney town centre in April. Her friends said a postmortem examination found she died because her pulmonary artery was not attached to her heart properly and was not getting enough oxygen. Her sister Becky Hamer, 21, said: “If there is a lot more awareness it could also lead to early detection and stop everyone else going through what our family has had to go through.”
  • Oxford Spires Academy pupil Lydia Price, 13, passed away in January after suffering from sudden heart failure. Her sister Erin Daniels, 23, of Jordan Hill, off Banbury Road, said more needed to be done to raise awareness and prevent more early deaths and welcomed the calls for screening.
  • Paul Thompson, 38, of Aston, collapsed and died during pre-season training in Burwell Meadow in Witney with Witney Royals Football Club in July. An inquest into his death in October found he was killed by an “extremely” rare form of heart failure.
  • Jessica Harper, 21, of Headington, suffered a heart attack during the early hours of July 14, an inquest found in October. A postmortem examination found the mother-of-one’s death may have been caused by a virus.