A LIFE-saving heart screening service which was launched by a family after the sudden death of a beloved mum, is one of the first in the country to return after being paused during the pandemic.

Carli Lansley tragically died in her sleep in 2017 from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, shocking both friends and family who had never known her to have suffered any health problems.

Karl Lansley, who set up the Carli Lansley Foundation in honour of his wife a year later, believes their event on June 29 will be the first charity-run electrocardiogram (ECG) screening held anywhere in the country since the pandemic hit last March.

An ECG is used to check the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity, with sensors attached to the skin to detect electrical signals produced by the heart each time it beats.

The charity has lost a total of seven screening days since coronavirus took its devastating hold on the UK - leaving more than 700 youngsters without a potentially life-saving check.

Hospital screenings have, however, continued throughout the pandemic, but on a referral-only basis.

The family say results from the scans can often be a surprise, with healthy teenagers and youngsters affected.

Mrs Lansley, who was aged 36, also left behind her children Jess, now 14, and Ethan, now ten.

She was discovered by her daughter in June 2017, who was unable to wake her one morning.

Mr Lansley, 50, said: “There were never any warning signs, we’d been married for 12 years.

“I was getting ready to go to work and was making her a cup of tea before I left for the station when Jess called me and said ‘dad, mum’s not moving’.

“As soon as I went into the bedroom I knew something was wrong, I started screaming and told the kids to go my neighbours who ended up taking the 999 call. It turns out she’d passed away at some point in the night and never woke up.

“It’ll be four years this year since we lost her, and I don’t want any other family to go through that.”

The Carli Lansley Foundation have also helped install a number of life-saving defibrillators across Southend.

Mr Lansley, from Eastwood, is now urging as many people between 14 to 35-years-old to get checked in the upcoming screenings at Saxon Hall on Aviation Way, Southend.

The screening days - set to be held through June, July and August - will be funded by the Carli Lansley Foundation and run by charity Cardiac Risk In The Young (CRY).

He added: “Not only is this a massive honour for our foundation, as we have worked tirelessly to get these screenings resumed, but I also think it could be a massive honour for the town of Southend.

“Out of the three events we were able to run before lockdown hit last year, there were 13 people found with heart conditions.

“None of them you’d expect it from, there was a 14-year-old, a healthy 23-year-old, and even a fire fighter. It goes to show this can affect absolutely anyone no matter who you are, so it’s always worth getting checked to be safe.

“It takes ten minutes and is completely non-invasive, so why wouldn’t you? It could save your life.”

Despite the pandemic posing its challenges, Mr Lansley is hoping to be able to hold more screenings before the end of the year.

He continued: “The screenings all finished when lockdown happened, and I think the main issue was that in March last year lots of NHS staff were moved to Covid wards, and so had to stay there rather than going back and fourth. It meant there were no staff to carry on doing them, when now that’s not so much the case.

“It’s brilliant to be doing this again, and to be the first I want to shout it from the rooftop.

“We have a memorial fund with CRY, so we fundraise and then give it to them to run it. They get the doctors together and send out the medical teams to a venue of our choice.”

Each screening day will have capacity for 85 people, with the tests completely free.

Visit https://www.carlilansleyfoundation.org.uk/ecg-screenings-to-hopefully-resume/