A MURAL in memory of a footballer from south Essex has been unveiled to raise awareness of sudden cardiac deaths.
Jenny Kerwood was only 22-years-old when she had a fatal cardiac arrest while playing for her football team in February 2012.
Football-mad Jenny, from Billericay had just graduated from Westminster University and dreamed of a career as a football journalist.
A life-long Leyton Orient supporter, she had just started working for a football news website, reporting on the club, when she died.
This week, 12 powerful murals have been unveiled by the British Heart Foundation 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.
Jenny’s brother, Ross Kerwood, said: “The day Jenny died she had gone to football training like she did every Tuesday. About halfway through the session she suddenly collapsed. Her coaches immediately called an ambulance and one of them carried out CPR.
"One of Jenny’s teammates messaged me on Facebook asking me to call her urgently. When she told me what had happened, I was completely taken aback.
“I had only spoken to her the day before. Meanwhile my parents had gone to the hospital. They were told that Jenny had passed away in the ambulance on the way to hospital. My dad called me to break the news. I remember just being hit by pure grief and crying uncontrollably.
“It took me about three years to even begin to process my grief. I was only 19 at the time and I just remember thinking this shouldn’t be happening, I shouldn’t be having to grieve for my sister.”
It was discovered that Jenny had Bland-White-Garland syndrome, a rare congenital heart condition that affects 1 in every 300,000 live births.
Jenny's mural is now on display in Edmonton in North London.
Ross added: “It has been incredibly tough for us all trying to process Jenny’s death. She was a fit, young woman, who was active, so her death made no sense at all at first
“My parents, however, were incredible. They fought through the grief together, and we as a family grew stronger.
“I think enough time has passed now that seeing the mural was mostly a feeling of happiness that her legacy lives on in such a fantastic way.”
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