LISTEN: Mother speaks of son's death from undiagnosed heart condition

Hilary Niblock wants there to be more awareness of the issue, so no family has to go through the pain hers has had to endure.

Every month in Northern Ireland at least one young person dies from an undiagnosed heart condition, according to statistics from British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland.

These people are unaware that they are at risk before their sudden death. Undetected heart conditions can be deadly and devastate families, often by taking away loved ones without warning.

Northern Ireland’s leading heart research charity estimates that around 17,500 people  in Northern Ireland are living with a faulty gene that puts them at high risk of a heart attack at a young age or sudden death.

In addition to these thousands there are more people at risk of dying prematurely because of other non-genetic heart defects including abnormal heart rhythms.

For many families, the first sign there’s a problem is when someone dies suddenly with no obvious cause or explanation.

Hilary Niblock from Lisburn lost her son Kris on 18 June 2014 just days before his 21^st birthday. 

The youngest in the family of three children loved cars and was outside their home working on a friend’s car when he suddenly collapsed.

Hilary is now calling for more testing to be done on kids in schools, so any heart defects can be detected early.