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Parents of tragic Leeds student in plea over heart tests
The parents of a "perfect son" who died suddenly of an undetected heart condition are urging young people to have a simple check which could save their life.
Antony and Halina Reid, from Garforth, Leeds, lost their 19-year-old son Tom when he collapsed and died at a nightclub at University College London in September.
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Tom, an A* student who had just enrolled on a BA linguistics degree, had no traces of drink or drugs in his system and a post-mortem report showed he died of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (Sads).
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He had previously been fit and well and had shown no symptoms anything was wrong.
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Speaking to the YEP, Mrs Reid said: "It was the happiest day of his life and he was having the best night of his life – he was so excited about going to university. We'd never even heard of Sads."
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Mr Reid added: "Our first thought was that someone could have spiked his drink. We knew Tom didn't drink to excess and we knew he would never take drugs."
They were shocked to find out how many young people's lives are tragically cut short each year by little-known Sads.
Working with national charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (Cry), the family learned that Sads is an umbrella term used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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