A MAN whose son died from a previously undiagnosed heart condition during a road race plans to run five marathons this year to help prevent it happening to others.

Sponsorship money raised by Granville Staff will be used to buy equipment capable of detecting the rare hypertrophic cardiomyopathy condition which killed David, 17.

Mr Staff, 49, will take part in the London Marathon - his 21st marathon - this weekend and hopes to complete his 25th event by the end of the year.

He said: "£6,000 would buy a mobile ECG machine which could be used to screen 90 per cent of the heart conditions that eventually kill young people.

"My wife and I are now northern contacts for the Cardiac Risk in the Young group involved in this initiative.

"If I was successful in buying this equipment, CRY would train two nurses to use it." David, of Carus Avenue, Hoddlesden, died after collapsing near the end of the 10k Darwen Dashers Road Race in December, 1994.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy occurs as a result of a thickening of one of the heart muscles, which prevents electrical impulses from making it beat and usually occurs following a growth spurt.

Some countries screen for the condition, which affects one in 500 people - but not the United Kingdom.

Mr Staff has appeared on World In Action and satellite channel UK Living to promote awareness of the problem.

David, a pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar school, Blackburn, had shown no signs of the condition, which is thought to kill four young people a week in the UK.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Mr Staff can contact him on 01254 701807.

Donations or offers of sponsorship can be sent to him at 37 Carus Avenue, Hoddlesden, Darwen, or to the Cardiac Risk in the Young group, at PO Box 28, Ashtead, Surrey, KT21 1BW.

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