Fund in memory of Kettering girl Miriam will screen youngsters for heart problems

Miriam Lee died aged just 17 in August 2016, the day after she received her AS-Level results. Since her death her mum Nicola has been raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

Now, working with the charity, Nicola has set up the Miriam Lee Memorial Fund to help provide ECG screenings for young people between the ages of 14 and 35.

She said: "Twelve young people die every week from undetected heart problems and virtually all of them have no symptoms. It often involves people who are very fit.

"It's so important that there's something for young people and if we can save one life, or pick up one condition that could cause someone a problem, we'll be happy."

The 15-minute screening for about 100 youngsters costs about £5,000 and to date the fund has raised about £1,800.

Nicola recently completed the CRY walk in London and held a garden fete in Rushden, as well as a tombola and raffle in Kettering's Morrisons.

A mufti day at Bishop Stopford, where Miriam studied for her GCSEs, added £1,000 to the pot.

And Nicola is hoping to further boost the total with a family fun day between 2pm and 5pm on June 29 at the Ise Valley Scout Hut in Grantown Close, Kettering. There will be tea and cake and fun and games on offer to raise funds.

After leaving Bishop Stopford Miriam moved to Brooke Weston Academy in Corby to study her A-Levels.

She had hoped to go on to study French and linguistics at the University of Kent.

She was a member of the Air Cadets and enjoyed a trip to Gibraltar and more than 300 people attended her funeral.

Miriam was a keen believer in helping others and as well as regularly donating blood her liver, pancreas and kidneys were donated to others after she died.

Miriam, who Nicola described as a "remarkable young woman", would have turned 21 this year but her family still do not know what caused her cardiac arrest.

Nicola added: "There are some specific conditions that the screening will pick up that a trip to a GP might not and it can pick things up that are genetic.

"We don't know whether it would have discovered what eventually caused Miriam's death but these screenings undoubtedly save lives."

To donate to Miriam's memorial fund, click here.

To keep up to date with fundraising activities for the fund, click here.