MORE than 200 young people in Tadley got their health checked over last weekend.

An event hosted at Tadley Community Centre in Newchurch Road on Saturday allowed young people aged between 14 to 35 to get their heart checked.

The event run by Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) enabled young people to get checked by specialists from St George’s Hospital.

With at least 12 young people dying of undiagnosed heart conditions every week, CRY has been working to reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death.

The event run at the community centre was not only an opportunity for people to get checked for free but also to raise awareness.

Karen Pearmine, who organised the event said: “Sometimes going through these tests can cost upwards of £1,000, that is why we wanted to offer them free of charge to make sure everyone got tested.

“It is great to see some of the youngsters becoming more aware of the risks and strains people put on their body.

“We had a couple of lads who are going to be doing part of the Tour De France who came in and got checked and another pair who had been kayaking and just wanted to check things out.”

Karen added: “However, there is still some ignorance around the subject where parents think their child is fit and healthy, but this could be when a young person could suffer a cardiac failure.”

Karen added there has been a number of famous footballers and marathon runners who have died while doing the sport they love which has had the effect of raising the profile of the work CRY does.

CRY - who has patrons such as Sir Ian Botham, John Inverdale and David Walliams - promotes and develops heart screening programmes and funds medical research.

To find out more about CRY, go to c-r-y.org.uk.