When I decided to do this blog I set myself out a goal of trying to get a post out three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday- simply to give myself a manageable workload after a turbulent few weeks. But today is Thursday right Sophie? Yes it is. And I didn't intend to post today. But today was the day I finally got around to counting up my donations for the CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) Walk I did on the 1st of October in memory of my friend Andrew. In the end I raised £35 on top of my £12 registration fee for the walk, making a grand total of £47. It may not seem a lot, but doing the walk made me realise just how much every little really does help and how it benefits the families both affected and who will be affected by caridac risk.

This all started back in February when my friend, and the friend of many, Andrew passed away unexpectedly. Without giving too much away in respect of Andrew's family and other friends, I can say I was hugely shocked. I was at home watching the Jump, checked my phone and at first it didn't sink in. This had to be a joke, or I wasn't reading it right. But sadly it wasn't, and over the next few weeks as consolations rolled in we had to deal with the loss of the key member of our friendship group.

He was 19. Fit and healthy. People just don't die suddenly like that, right? It was months later we heard from Andrew's family that his cause of death was suspected to be a sudden cardiac arrest. Basically his heart just stopped. Like that. I'd heard of that happening before, but I just never thought it would affect somebody I knew, I didn't even realise how common it was. And a short while after we heard about a charity called CRY and the upcoming walk in the area. A 5 mile route round the city, the walk was a chance to celebrate the lives of those we had lost and raise money to support families who had been affected by the loss of a young one, support research and use cardiac screening to find problems early that can then be treated preventing an unexpected death. 

Every week 12 young people die unexpectedly as a result of undiagnosed heart conditions. That didn't hit home until I was at the walk, and I saw people's t shirts decorated with the pictures of loved ones they had lost. People who I had never met, but who I couldn't believe were no longer full of life and enjoying their time with their families. 

The walk itself was a blast! I got to meet up with friends I had not seen in months, after they went back to Uni, We got lost many times, finding our way around a city we had all lived in for years or at least attended college in. I ended up getting stung by a wasp that had got lost up the sleeve of my t shirt and we all laughed at how Andrew would probably be chuckling over us doing so much exercise. Me and my friends even donned a pair of tights to get a scaly dinosaur effect on our faces, as Andrew was called Godzilla, this was our way of standing out as a group on the walk.

I've done charity work before but it felt so much different doing it for a cause that meant so much to me. CRY is doing excellent work to prevent future deaths from things that could be managed so easily if they were caught. I would be here forever explaining so instead I'll link their website below and do take a moment to read up on their work, particularly on their cardiac screening efforts. 

I would love to partake in future CRY events, after all I don't want to see anybody else losing a loved one after seeing the effect Andrew's death had on his. Scrolling through Twitter I see post after post from CRY of sad news stories where another young person has died, but also promising news of what improvements are being made in the efforts to reduce cardiac risk. I'll pop that below as well, it's fantastic to hear what's being done by CRY.

Website: http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/

CRY Twitter: @CRY_UK

Sophie :3 x

Twitter: @nosophienoblog

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