Cardiac crisis: the hidden struggle for heart health in the young
Over 100,000 people in the UK are waiting for vital heart screenings while the theft or vandalism of more than 100 defibrillators is leaving people at risk by limiting access to life-saving tests and equipment.
According to experts, these gaps in access are putting lives in danger - especially for young people who are unaware of underlying heart conditions.
In Italy, where screening is mandatory for all young people engaged in sport, cases of young sudden cardiac death have fallen by a massive 89%.
But in the UK, NHS guidelines mean free echocardiogram heart screenings are only provided for young people when a cardiac death has occurred in the family, or through the work of charities such as Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).
CRY provides around 30,000 appointments for 14 to 25-year-olds each year.
An ECG is a procedure where electrodes are placed on the chest to monitor heart activity. Despite its simplicity, cost and access remain significant barriers with private screenings priced at around £80 per test.
Gillian and Barry Wilkinson’s world turned upside down in 2016 when their 24-year-old son Daniel died from an undiagnosed heart condition while playing football. Since then, they have set up the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation in his name, raising money to fund heart screenings for young people and supply defibrillators to grassroots sports clubs.
Dr Tim Chico, a cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, argues that what is actually needed is more reliable testing, but Dr Steven Cox, CEO of CRY says the NHS and the National Screening Committee undervalues ECG as a diagnostic tool.
Sam Russell, 26, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest playing hockey in February 2025. His teammates gave CPR as others desperately tried to find a life-saving defibrillator. Sam has now raised over £8,000 to pay for ten defibrillators and offer CPR training.
A Sheffield Wire Freedom of Information request has revealed that 124 defibrillators have been stolen or damaged in the UK during the last two years leaving communities without life-saving equipment.
And figures such as this, alongside the long wait for screenings, highlight the need for mandatory screenings more than ever.
Paul Gregory lost his daughter Lauren to a sudden cardiac arrest when she was 29. Since then he has campaigned to place a defibrillator in every corner of football stadiums across the UK.
And we have also heard from Sheffield Sharks who screen their senior players before every season and are now making changes to ensure all young people are safe and ready to play at any age.
Our campaign brings together real-life stories, expert insight, and a national call to action to ensure regular heart screenings for all young people.
“Sober not boring”: How Queer rave keeps the party going without the hangover
The vibe at a Queer sober rave is “a little bit wild and a little bit wholesome” according to organisers who run alcohol-free LGBTQ+ events.
The House of Happiness was launched after its founders realised there was a gap in the market for dry, daytime, events which mimic a traditional night out.
Neil Hudson-Basing, one of the co-creators, was inspired to help create the raves after he gave up alcohol for health reasons six years ago. He was looking for a “big, bold, colourful party”, as opposed to the wellness or recovery themes that often dominate LGBTQ+ sober events.
“What we [other founders] love is partying," says Neil, who began working on House of Happiness in October 2022. "None of us have an addiction or recovery story, none of us are interested in wellbeing or mindfulness.”
With DJs, dancers, a photographer, and a fully stocked alcohol-free bar, the parties are everything you would expect from a typical club – without the 3am stumble home.
Neil described how the culture around alcohol and excessive drinking within the Queer community draws people in and makes it difficult to get sober.
A 2024 report by Drinkaware found 70% of LGBTQ+ drinkers engage in binge drinking, and members of the community are more likely than the general population to list coping and fitting in as reasons they consume alcohol.
We wish that people knew how fun and how crazy life can be without alcohol - life can actually be better
Neil found people less understanding when he chose to get sober for health reasons as opposed to those who stop drinking because of addiction. “When you choose to give it up for lifestyle reasons it’s a harder sell to get your friends on board," he says. "People don’t take you seriously, they’ll take the p***, they’ll try and tempt you. I’m coming up to six and a half years sober and I’ve still got friends that are weird about it.”
Neil also explained how LGBTQ+ events have traditionally catered to cisgender, gay men, and that The House of Happiness has tried to counteract this by focusing on inclusivity, with rules including “respect space, respect pronouns, respect individuality".
“We’ve all felt that feeling of not belonging, whether that is at a regular club where everyone is hammered or in a gay club because you don’t fit a certain mould. We wish that people knew how fun and how crazy life can be without alcohol - life can actually be better.”
JUS News Midday Bulletins (14th May 2025)
Here’s our JUS News Midday Bulletins with Cassidy Chan.
Stay tuned for our afternoon news bulletin at 2pm.
‘Desperate’ parents face years of waiting for children’s heart screenings
Charities are urging the government to introduce mandatory heart screenings for young people as their own sessions struggle to meet the overwhelming demand.
The calls come as parents have travelled across the country after waiting years for life-saving electrocardiogram tests.
Tom Paget, a dad of two teenagers, travelled 90 minutes from his home town in Otley in West Yorkshire to Hull to have his children screened.
He said: “We have been looking for a couple of years for screenings and this is the first that we found that’s any way near us.
“I came here because there've been a few high profile incidents of footballers suffering with sudden heart problems. I suppose, as a parent, that’s sort of your worst nightmare.”
Mr Paget attended a screening in Hull organised by charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). Appointments went live at four o'clock three weeks before the session. By five past, they were all gone.
He said: “That’s how desperate people are to get on and get children screened, and clearly how few appointments are actually available.”
According to CRY, 12 fit and healthy young people under the age of 35 die from undiagnosed cardiac conditions every week in the UK.
While individuals aged 40 to 74 and families affected by a young sudden cardiac death are eligible for a free ECG heart screening on the NHS, young people have no access to these free services.
Instead, parents turn to groups like CRY which offers screenings to about 30,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 35 each year.
Despite CRY's efforts to screen thousands of young people annually, many still face long waits and the need to travel long distances for a screening.
According to CRY's 2025 statistics, demand for ECGs is “exponentially outstripping capacity” with the waiting list now exceeding 105,000.
Dr Steven Cox, CEO of the organisation, said: “In Italy, where people are routinely tested every year from a young age, they show an 89% reduction in sudden deaths.
“We don’t have the luxury of routine screening in the UK, so our priority is for everyone to be screened at least once from the age of 14.”
Charities are working with CRY to help them provide screenings to as many young people as possible, but they say it's not enough without government support.
Becky Bristow, general manager of the Dillon Quirke Foundation, a charity that screened 10,000 14 to 17-year-olds in sports clubs around Ireland this year, said: “The biggest issue is the national health service.
“They would have to find a way to pay for the screenings and they have way bigger priorities, so we are campaigning for major sports bodies to make screening mandatory for their players.”
The foundation was launched by the parents of 24-year-old sports player, Dillon Quirke, who suddenly died of an undiagnosed heart condition on the pitch. They began raising awareness that screening can prevent sudden cardiac deaths.
Ms Bristow said: “They were horrified to discover Dillon’s death was preventable with a very simple screening.”
Another charity helping make CRY’s screenings more accessible to people across the UK is Clarissa’s Campaign.
Clarissa Nicholls, 20, was a Cambridge student who died of an undiagnosed heart condition while on her year abroad.
Ms Betts, said: “It was a massive shock, Clarissa had no symptoms, she was really fit and active.”
After her death, Clarissa’s family and friends began to host screening days with the help of CRY to make screenings more accessible, especially for students at Cambridge University.
She said: “We have an emphasis on sports students but are open for everyone to sign up to, most people at the screenings say they knew someone who died of sudden cardiac death.”
Clarissa’s friend Hannah Betts said: “CRY is doing a great job but there are thousands on their waiting list and their screenings are in random locations that aren’t accessible to everyone.”
Foster Care Fortnight in Sheffield
Foster Care Fortnight have been marching across the Sheffield City Centre and playing music in the Peace Gardens this afternoon.
This is an event is an annual event that creates noise around fostering on a national level to attract enquiries and celebrate our existing Foster Carers.
Cassidy Chan was there earlier.
Manor Park Centre Fire
An industrial fire broke out early this morning in Manor Park Centre, destroying 3 shops overnight.
Residents are left shocked and upset with the damage it has caused.
Cassidy Chan has more.
Blue Plaque unveiled to commemorate Sheffield’s ‘Lady with the Lamp’
Monica Maurice, also affectionately referred to as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’, has been honoured with a Blue Plaque to commemorate her outstanding contribution to safety in engineering during the 20th century.
The unveiling took place today outside the Wolf Safety Lamp Company on Saxon Road in Sheffield.
Speaking about the Blue Plaque, John Jackson, former Managing Director of Wolf Safety, and son of Monica Maurice, he said: “It’s there in concrete and records her achievements, the membership of all the institutions, her various successes she had in business and in private life as well.
“It is a memento for the future, it’s there forever.”
Monica made remarkable contributions to the mining industry, designing and manufacturing flame safety lamps. She secured national and international praise for her expertise and knowledge, during a time when women were scarcely recognised for their professional contributions.
Amy Jackson, granddaughter of Monica, speaking about the Plaque, said: “It feels like a validation and recognition of her work.
“When you grow up and you see someone like that in your family who’s achieved those things, who’s your grandmother, you think as a woman, as a female, you can do anything as well.”
In 1930, Monica, joined ‘The Works’, as the family business, Wolf Safety, became known, and worked as a personal assistant to her father.
In 1932, after training in Germany and London, her father William, presented his daughter with a handwritten letter, congratulating her and appointing Monica as a director of the family company. She then went on to develop and enhance mining safety lamps and encouraged women to train as engineers.
Monica achieved many things, including in 1936 organising the fourteenth annual conference for the Women’s Engineering Society at the University of Sheffield. Two years later, she was elected as the first, and for 40 years, only female member of The Association of Mining Electrical Engineers.
In 1975, she was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace for her outstanding contribution and dedication to safety in mining.
Monica also had a keen sense of adventure. She had a love of fashion, fast cars and aeroplanes, and became a trained pilot.
Alex Jackson, Managing Director of Wolf Safety, and grandson of Monica, said: “To have a Blue Plaque in her name feels like the perfect accolade, and a lasting reminder of everything my Granny achieved.”
Inner City Healers: How a Sheffield hiking group is using nature to improve mental health
The founder of a new Sheffield walking group has explained how getting out in nature can be a powerful way to boost the wellbeing of people living in cities.
The Inner City Healers, which launched in September last year, has already welcomed over 200 people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and religions across the city to join outdoor walks and talk about their mental health.
The group has organised five hikes into the Peak District in beauty spots such as Mam Tor and Ladybower Reservoir, with as many as 45 people attending each one.
Jamal Aziz, the group’s 25-year-old founder, says he was inspired to start the Inner City Healers after seeing how being outside improved the life of his father, who has lived with Paranoid Schizophrenia for over 20 years.
“One day we just decided to get out and go for a walk, and I could see how much of a difference that little walk made for my dad physically, in the way he was speaking, and how he was coping with everything,” Jamal says.
“So we started going on walks regularly, and I saw a massive change in him. It’s not a cure but it’s a big help, and that connection we got on the walks is one I never had with my dad before.”
For Jamal, who took up hiking in 2017 after falling in love with being outside, spending time in nature was a revelation for his own wellbeing too.
“I feel like nature is my mental health healer,” he says. “If I wasn't going on my hikes, my head would be all over the place. It’s my safe space as well.”
Jamal’s experiences are increasingly being backed up by science. In 2021, a survey by the Mental Health Foundation found that 70% of adults agreed being close to nature improved their mood, while other studies have shown that chemicals released by trees can lower stress hormones and improve the immune system.
It was experiencing these benefits first hand that made Jamal want to share them with others in his community.
“I’ve seen the struggle, I’ve seen the hardships, and I know how to understand someone who is suffering because of the situation with my dad,” he says. “I wanted to use that to make a difference.”
Jamal says the group, which is open to anyone over 16, aims to break down barriers to men talking about their mental health by creating a non-judgemental place for them to speak with others going through similar issues.
He says: “I feel like men have a lot of pride, so they're not comfortable, or they feel weak telling someone about their mental health problems.
“I'm just trying to build a community and a safe space for all of the boys. No matter what you look like, you can come on my walk and you can have fun, you can enjoy yourself, and you can have the conversations you want to have.”
It’s an approach which has proved hugely successful - 30 young men turned up to the group’s first walk, and Jamal, a trained mental health first-aider, has a backlog of 20 others who have signed up to one-to-one walks to discuss their problems privately.
Akhtar Hussain, a supporting director of the Inner City Healers, says he was pleasantly surprised by how popular the walks have been, which have seen people travelling from as far away as Manchester and Bradford to take part.
“For them to come so far to join our group shows they must really need someone to talk to, and that’s exactly what this gives them,” Akhtar says.
“People get a chance to offload everything that they've had to deal with over the week. And the reason why being in nature with the group helps is that there's not a sign of judgment there.”
For Akhtar, building a sense of community and breaking down prejudices for people who come on walks is just as important as boosting mental health.
“We've got so many issues around rivalry nowadays. Young lads will go from Pitsmoor to Firth Park and have an issue with someone just because of where they live,” he says.
“But on these walks, you've got guys from Firth Park, Burngreave, Pitsmoor, and they come together without any rivalry. You're out in the middle of the woods, on the mountains, in the fresh air, and no-one owns anything there.
“And the best thing about it is that tomorrow, if there's an issue and some guys know each other from this walk they've gone to, they might be able to stop it before there's another stabbing or another violent attack, which is massive.”
With its focus on inclusivity, the Inner City Healers, which originally began as a group for men, has now opened its walks to women too.
Henna Ali, a 27-year-old teacher from Firth Park, attended a recent hike to Mam Tor after she came across the group on Instagram, and was blown away by how welcoming they were.
“I did not feel like I was an outsider at all,” she recalls. “Everyone was so friendly, and I felt so comfortable and supported.
“At one point I was struggling to get up the hill, and I thought I’m not fit enough for this. But the group were all cheering me on. They were literally giving me hands to climb up, and people were waiting at the bottom in case I fell, so I just felt so safe and included.”
A registered Community Interest Company, the group is now applying for council funding to make the hikes even more accessible by purchasing a minibus to transport people from the city, and hopes to run family hikes in the near future too.
But for Jamal, it’s seeing the change in people who join the walks which makes all the difference.
“We had this young lad who was going through a hard time and was a very reserved kid,” he recalls. “He came on one of our walks, had an amazing time, and now he's gelled with everyone.
“If I can help change someone's mindset like that then the world is my oyster, and I just want to be the pearl.”
Survival of the Sickest 2025
From the grudgy kids on the corner of the streets, to the cool kids showing off tricks and going to the Olympics, skateboarding is now the trendy sport for the sickest skaters around the world.
Survival of the Sickest, the UK’s only junior skateboarding competition took place in Sheffield last saturday for under 12s and under 16s.
Cassidy Chan went down to have a feel of the atmosphere.
Read more here.
“It’s exhausting and the unpredictability is frustrating”: Sheffield women share what life is like with MS
Walking across a car park may not feel like a huge task, but for Susie Evans the simple trip, which most people don’t give a second thought to, can leave her exhausted.
“Some days are harder than others, putting one foot in front of the other takes a lot of concentration and energy meaning that I can be wiped out for the rest of the day,” says Susie.
The mum-of-one was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was 38-years-old, in 2018, after a couple of years of struggling with neuropathic pains to her left leg, and exhaustion.
This week as part of MS Awareness Week 2025, Susie is talking out about the condition and how it affects her everyday life.
MS is a neurological condition that one in every 450 people in England will be diagnosed with in their lifetime.
Susie, 45, a civil servant from Chapeltown, Sheffield wants people to understand how difficult daily life is for people living with MS.
“There’s this thing called ‘spoon theory’,” she says. “The premise is that anybody with a chronic disease might wake up in the morning and have 12 spoons of energy for that day. And then getting dressed might take a spoon, getting showered might take a spoon. Then getting to work might take two spoons and quickly, spoons disappear. If you get up in the morning and you’ve had a really bad night’s sleep, because one of the joys of MS is sleep disturbance, you might wake up and instead of having 12 spoons that day you’ve got eight. Then if you’ve got a cold, you can take another couple of spoons out of your day. So suddenly you might have only six spoons of energy for that day.”
Susie was diagnosed with MS seven years ago. Her particular condition, relapse remitting MS, means she can get worse periods of intense symptoms and then they lessen or stop.
“My first symptom was numbness in my big toe, which spread over a few days all over my left side,” says Susie, who has been left with scarring on her brain. “To touch it was like having an electric shock.”
Susie went to see her GP, who made a call to a neurologist at the Hallamshire Hospital and asked them to see her that day.
“They did an MRI scan that showed a lesion on my spinal cord and I was diagnosed with Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS) and told that it could progress to MS,” says Susie.
She was sent for a follow-up MRI after a period of difficulty walking, which felt like Susie ‘was wading through treacle and was exhausting’ showed further lesions on Susie’s brain. It was at this point she was diagnosed with MS.
Although it didn’t come as a shock, ‘it was still unpleasant to get that diagnosis,” says Susie.
She explained living with MS is unpredictable and Susie constantly suffers from a varying range of fatigue.
“There'll be days where it gets worse,” she says. “I also have cognitive issues so I can get confused and tired. But I’m a mum, so I have to function. It’s exhausting and the unpredictability is frustrating.”
Susie uses a TurboMed, a specialist brace, to help her manage the impact MS has had on her mobility. She also has an electronic stimulator which sends messages to her muscles when she is walking to help her lift her foot.
“It can be a bit complicated to try and get dressed in the morning.” She says.
Susie, who works from home, praised her employers for how supportive they have been, allowing her to dictate her own travel arrangements or any breaks she needs.
“I’m also in an MS support group at work,” she says. “It’s a really supportive group, full of people who have MS and for people who care for people with the condition too. When it’s a really hard day and you can’t function, they can help with advice. They also help with things like applying for benefits. I’m glad it exists.”
Susie says her MS nurses have been invaluable. They encouraged her to apply for a blue badge to help Susie conserve her energy and to start cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help her come to terms with her condition.
“Even though I’ve had MS for seven years, it’s still a learning curve,” she says. “I’m still learning to pace myself in terms of what I can do and what I can’t do. I kick myself if I do too much. It’s an acceptance thing. The acceptance that I have is that I know I’ve got it [MS] and I’m not ok about it.
“You often get comments from people like “But you look ok”. I might look ok. But it could be ten o’clock in the morning and if you see me at three o’clock it might be a different story.”
MS Society announced in February that they had reached the threshold for 200 people to take part in the ChariotMS trial for advanced progressive MS. The study hopes to find whether cladribine can help people with more advanced MS to use their arms and hands. The first results of this study are expected in 2027.
Also, later this year results are expected for the myelin repair trial. Myelin is the protective coating around nerve fibres which is damaged in MS and lab research so far has shown a combination of two drugs helped myelin repair in rats.
Another MS sufferer, Joanna Mason, 43, from Rotherham, is a social media influencer, with 103,000 followers on TikTok, under the name ‘The Yorkshire Wife’. She is also a comedian and a volunteer group coordinator for the MS Society Sheffield and Rotherham group.
As well as MS, Joanna has functional neurological disorder (FND), causing a range of debilitating symptoms. They include fatigue, vertigo, tinnitus, facial spasms, short-circuiting (FND physical and vocal tics), dysphonia (when the voice involuntarily sounds raspy, strained or changes in volume or pitch), swallowing problems, tremors and difficulty controlling body temperature.
“Some of my symptoms are permanent due to the damage in my brain and spine and then some come and go,” says Joanna. “Everyday can be different with MS and sometimes hour to hour is different. You never know what you’re going to be able to do and when.”
Joanna has been volunteering with the MS Society since she was diagnosed in 2021.
“We have three volunteers and between us we have set up two seated exercise classes which run weekly in Rotherham and Sheffield and a weekly gym-based circuit training session,” says Joanna. “We have specialist trainers from CWS Community Wellness Services that run our sessions.
“The sessions help us with functional physical exercises, strength training and building new neural pathways. We also run a monthly social group at the MS Therapy Centre in Catcliffe where we have guest speakers and workshops all with the aim of learning to live as well as we can with our MS. We don’t want anyone to feel alone.”
Joanna explained MS often gets referred to as the ‘snowflake disease’ as every individual with MS experiences it differently and there are so many factors that can cause symptoms to flare.
The MS Society support groups constantly receive positive feedback. “I’ve created friends for life through the group,” says Joanna. “We support each other through the ups and downs of our illness.”
Joanna said MS Awareness Week,which runs from Monday 28 April to Sunday 4 May, with the aim of encouraging people to join in the online dialogue using the hashtag #MSConversations to share their personal stories about MS, is important because it’s vital other people understand what life is like for people with MS.
She says: “We only have medications that aim to slow down progression or help manage symptoms. We need a cure.”
To anyone who’s recently been diagnosed with MS Joanna says: “MS might be affecting you from the inside out but there are so many things you can do from the outside in to help you live as well as you can. Reach out to support groups and ask questions.”
You can find out more information about the MS Society Sheffield and Rotherham group and contact them through their Facebook and website. You can also contact the MS Trust helpline and MS UK.