Kids’ heart check plea
Death of girl sparks call from tragic star’s mum
By Michael McHugh
newsdesk@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
31 December 2005
THE mother of tragic GAA star Cormac McAnallen has called for the mandatory cardiac screening of all schoolchildren after a west Belfast teenager collapsed and died on her doorstep.
Stephanie Meehan (15) perished suddenly at her Cullingtree Road home on Christmas Eve in unexplained circumstances reminiscent to those of the former Tyrone captain’s demise - and his mother has urged the health authorities to act.
Cormac and another budding sports star, Armagh rugby player John McCall (18), died in 2004 from what has been dubbed Sudden Death Syndrome, a phenomena similar to cot death and often caused by a cardiac abnormality.
Cormac’s mother Bridget, who lives in Eglish, Co Tyrone, said more needed to be done to check young people.
“We would be pushing for (cardiac) screening throughout schools. We now have the Cormac McAnallen Trust and we are encouraging people to undertake screening to prevent a rise in the number of these cases and to make people aware that they could have this condition,” she said.
“I want to express my sympathy for the family of the young girl. I think it is a terrible shock.
“When anyone dies without warning or any indication that the person had any problem it is very difficult.”
Stephanie had two siblings and her mother Geraldine.
Funeral Mass was said at St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast on Thursday by Msgr Tom Toner and he believed the cause of the teenager’s death was a mystery.
“She collapsed outside her front door but the post mortem revealed nothing,” he said.
The police are investigating the death but are not treating it as suspicious.
Cormac’s mother said the heart problem which killed her son was more common among younger people.
“A simple ECG scan normally would show up the majority of these conditions. There are times the conditions don’t show and I personally think there should be a school visiting service,” she added.
“I keep in touch with a charity called CRY in England which has found a significant number of people dying from this and it is important that it is taken seriously.
“Everybody thinks it is only athletes who get this but it can happen to anybody. It is just because athletes are better known that their cases receive more prominence.”
