Sponsored by
Leeds student 'lifesaver' tribute campaign EXCLUSIVE
A heartbroken couple are marking the first anniversary of their son's death by launching a campaign to buy life-saving defibrillators for every secondary school in Leeds.
Antony and Halina Reid lost their 19-year-old son Tom after he collapsed at a London nightclub on September 28 last year, just one day after he enrolled as a fresher at University College London.
Tom, a linguistics student who attended Garforth Community College, had no drink or drugs in his system and died from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (Sads), triggered by an undetected heart condition.
Antony and Halina have since thrown themselves into raising money for two charities, Sads UK and Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry), and have already organised 170 heart screenings at Tom's old school.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from your YEP.
Now, the couple are launching a campaign to buy defibrillators for every secondary school in Leeds, which Antony is hoping to boost by cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End next May.
* Click here to follow the YEP on Twitter.
The 43-year-old also plans to visit schools to promote the campaign and encourage staff and pupils to hold fundraising events.
He said: "If a defibrillator had been available when Tom collapsed, he would have had a much better chance of survival.
"Just 1,300 might have saved my son's life. That's the message I'm
trying to take into the schools so that if anything happens to a child, there's a greater chance of survival. We want people to be aware that children do have cardiac arrests."
Halina and Anthony, who have another son Alex, 17, had taken Tom to his university in London just two days before he died.
The avid theatre fan worked part-time in PC World and had even set up a wedding photography business in his spare time.
Halina, 43, said: "I was so proud of what he'd become and who he became. It's a real loss and I will never understand why it happened."
So far, events held in Tom's memory include Tom Reid Day at Garforth Community College, which raised 3,000, and Tomfest, a fundraising night at the Elbow Rooms in Leeds, which raised more than 1,000.
Family and friends have also rallied around, taking part in treks and charity runs to add to the fundraising total.
The couple are now planning events for Cry's awareness week next month. The heart screenings at Garforth Community College will take place next year.
Halina added: "We know this is what Tom would want because he was an extremely positive person.
"He would find good in anything and we're taking on board his attitude."
To support the family's campaign, visit www.in-memory-of-tom.co.uk or email antonyreid2005@yahoo.co.uk.
To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/thomasantonyreid.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
