A MOTHER from Ludlow who lost her daughter to a congenital heart condition has discovered that her son is also a sufferer.

But despite the pain of her loss and worries for the future she's redoubling her efforts fundraise for a campaign to launch a national screening programme.

Lynne Brownhill is working hard for a charity called CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and on Saturday at Ludlow Rugby Club there will be a summer in memory of her daughter Leanne who died suddenly in November 2013.

The event that is already a sell out is set to raise £6,000.

Ten years ago Leanne was diagnosed with a form of cardiomyopathy – a genetic weakness of the heart muscle that can affect young people and kill without any notice.

The condition first became apparent when Leanne started to suffer from episodes of fainting but it took some time before the condition was diagnosed

Although the disease has no cure it can be managed in a number of ways.

Leanne had not allowed her illness to prevent her making the most of her life and one of her proudest moments was when she was awarded a nursing degree from Manchester University

She had a pacemaker fitted and also a defibrillator that delivers an electric shock to the heart.

Her condition had deteriorated in the months before her death and there had been a suggestion that she may need a heart transplant in the future.

She had been forced to give up her job as a staff nurse in Redditch and was working at a coffee shop in Ludlow but her death at the age of just 26 came as a massive shock to family and friends.

Now Mrs Browhill has revealed that her son Jamie, aged 30, has been diagnosed with the same condition and is being treated with medication.

Cardiomyopathy is a condition that affects the heart muscle that can in most cases be picked up through a scan.

The condition can affect people at any age but is generally associated with the sudden collapse and death of young people including sportsmen and women who had always appeared fit and healthy.

In some cases like Leanne’s there will be symptoms that can include fainting and shortness of breath but in other incidences there are no indications that anything is wrong.

Mrs Browhill says that young people are dying needlessly because there is no national screening programme.

She is working CRY and since Leanne died people in Ludlow have raised more than £10,000 for the charity that provides support for those affected, awareness of the condition and research.

“Every week 12 young people in this country die of the condition,” She said.

“It can usually be picked up by simple screening involving an ECG and a painless ultra sound examination of the heart. The test costs just £35, but there is no national screening programme in this country."

“In Italy where there is screening the deaths of young people from this condition have been reduced by 90 per cent.”