A powerful mural dedicated to a 23-year-old north Belfast man who died suddenly has been unveiled on Belfast’s Linenhall Street as part of a British Heart Foundation (BHF) campaign to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death.
Urgency campaign
The striking artwork depicts popular barman and electrician Joseph Burns, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at his parents’ home 10 years ago in July 2014.
Despite the best efforts of his family, the emergency services and hospital medical team, Joseph sadly died in Belfast’s Mater Hospital later that day.
Just 24 hours after his tragic death, his girlfriend Sinead discovered she was pregnant with their daughter Bella who is now nine years old.
The young man’s family spent months not knowing how their son and brother died.
Joseph’s sister Jeanette says: “When Joseph died our family were absolutely devastated. He was the only boy in our family and everyone just loved him, he was so well known in north Belfast and after his death so many people contacted us to say what a gentleman he was. He made such a big impact on so many people.
“We didn’t know what had caused his death and it was hard dealing with that because we didn’t have any answers. We were referred to the inherited cardiac conditions service in Belfast and after tests we discovered that my mum Una and I carry the faulty gene for Long QT syndrome, so it is very likely that is what Joseph died from.
“The work the BHF is doing in raising awareness of sudden cardiac death in the young is so important. This will sadly happen again to other families, but as a family we have dedicated ourselves to raising money for BHF since Joseph’s death because we want to fund the research that will save lives.”
To donate to the British Heart Foundation today, visit bhf.org.uk/untilidied
Lifesaving research
A British Heart Foundation researcher, whose family hail from Northern Ireland, is one of a team of scientists working to develop a cure for inherited heart muscle diseases which affect around 8,000 people here.
The charity’s £30m CureHeart programme – the most ambitious research grant in the BHF’s history – aims to develop the first cures for inherited heart muscle diseases.
Dr Kathryn McGurk, whose parents are from Belfast and Newry, is a cardiovascular geneticist, supported by a BHF Immediate Research Fellowship, and is part of the Imperial College London team working on the CureHeart Project.
Dr McGurk says: “My research aims to understand more about the genetic risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and their effects on heart structure and function.
“The goal of the entire CureHeart team is to develop cures for inherited heart muscle diseases, which are the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. With the progress we have made, we hope to be able to start clinical trials within five years.”
Glengormley mum Sharon Lyttle knows only too well how inherited heart disease can have a devastating impact on a family. She lost her husband and two sons to heart conditions.
Sharon and her husband Neil were left distraught in June 2008 when their eldest son Ryan (13) died suddenly.
Thirteen months later, Neil, who was just 40 years of age, passed away from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Ryan’s death was said at the time to have been the result of an asthma attack, but following his father’s tragic passing in August 2009, it was presumed the teenager also had a cardiomyopathy.
With her husband and eldest son passing away so close to each other, Sharon made sure youngest son Niall (9) was screened for a cardiomyopathy and he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Sharon says: “Because of what happened to Niall’s daddy and his brother, with his diagnosis I made sure he was kept busy so the heart condition didn’t hold him back.
“He was a member of two local golf clubs – his main club Greenacres and for a while he played at the Hilton Templepatrick. Before he was 18, Greenacres asked him to play for their society and he was also Junior Captain.
“Niall had a wonderful personality. With it being just the two of us for so long, we were very close and had a special bond. Niall would always sit and chat with me and make sure I was okay.
On November 14, 2018, 10 years after his brother had sadly died, Niall went on a University team-building night out on the Belfast party bikes. It was there he had a cardiac arrest.
Bystanders worked on him with a defibrillator and called an ambulance but he had another cardiac arrest in the ambulance.
Niall was taken to the ICU at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and with his heart having stopped, he was placed on a ventilator until November 18. Sadly, family and medical staff had to take the heartbreaking decision to turn the ventilator off.
Five years on and Sharon says the pain of losing Niall never goes away.
“Losing Niall was a living nightmare especially after what I’d gone through losing his brother and dad. Having such a close family circle with my sisters has got me through.
“I still meet with Niall’s friends and I can see how much he meant to them all and how much he is still missed. It also gives me some comfort to know that the two boys are now with their daddy.
“People have been amazing in their support over the past number of years but more needs to be done to help people out there suffering from inherited heart conditions.”
Support crucial to help save lives
By Fearghal McKinney, head of BHF Northern Ireland
“We’ve launched the urgency campaign in Northern Ireland to highlight the tragic reality that 12 young people under the age of 35 are lost every week to sudden cardiac death in the UK.
“We’re sharing the heartbreaking stories of local families who know only too well the unbearable pain of sudden cardiac death and we want to thank the Burns family and Sharon Lyttle for their support in raising awareness of the devastating impact inherited heart conditions can have.
“Too many lives, like Joseph Burns and Niall and Ryan Lyttle, are being taken too soon by sudden cardiac death. No one should have to experience the loss of their child, sibling or parent, but sadly that is the cruel reality of heart disease – it doesn’t discriminate.
“The BHF is already carrying out groundbreaking research, to treat and prevent the causes of sudden cardiac death, but there is still more to do.
“BHF can only invest in transformational research like this thanks to the generosity of our loyal supporters – so it’s vital we have continued and increased support if we’re to keep backing lifesaving research like CureHeart.
“If you, as a business, would like to partner BHF Northern Ireland to help prevent other families going through this heartbreak please get in touch.” ■
To find out more about BHF NI’s lifesaving work and how you can help, please contact Orla Copeland at [email protected] or call 07714 069129.