Heart screening by charity in memory of Oakdale teenager given Asda donation boost

Jack’s Appeal with Cardiac Risk in The Young was given the money by Asda in Blackwood as part of the store's ‘chosen by you’ scheme.

Under the scheme, customers can nominate a charity by donating a shopping token, with the charities with the three highest numbers of tokens receiving a donation.

The amount is usually £500, but this time around the amount was doubled, to celebrate the store’s anniversary.

Jack’s Appeal with Cardiac Risk in the Young provides free cardiac screening sessions to young people aged 14-35 at Oakdale Surgery.

Jack's Appeal was set up by June Thomas in memory of her son Jack, who died age 15 in 2012 from an undiagnosed heart defect.

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The sessions, which are free, are held twice a year at the surgery and have proven to make a difference to young people’s lives.

“We held our last screening session on February 12 and screened 114 young people. As we have done with each session, we did find some with defects,” said Mrs Thomas.

Those who are found to have defects then get referrals for further testing and guidance.

“It costs us £5,000 to put on each session, so in one year I have to raise £10,000 for the two sessions. I never charge people to be screened, all I do is put a donations box on the counter in reception during the session, so people can donate towards them if they choose to.

“The money from Asda will be a great help towards our next screening session, which is on June 6 - what would have been Jack’s 24th birthday.”

The latest available figures, covering the period up to July 12 last year, indicate that Jack’s Appeal with Cardiac Risk in the Young has raised £112,309.05 and has screened 1,178 people.