A FOUNDATION created in memory of a Southend teenager who tragically passed away while on holiday has successfully hosted its inaugural heart-screening event.
The Jude Harvey Foundation, named in honour of 19-year-old Jude Harvey, was created to prevent similar tragedies by raising funds for heart screenings amongst young people in the community.
Jude Harvey, described as a “kindhearted” young man, died suddenly on July 23 last year while swimming with his step-sister in Ibiza.
He suffered a sudden “heart episode” and despite efforts to save him, he sadly passed away.
The foundation’s mission is to offer early detection of heart conditions that could otherwise go unnoticed amongst young people.
In a show of community support, The Jude Harvey Foundation has also been selected as one of the official charities for 2024-25 by Southend’s mayor, Ron Woodley.
The first screening day saw the foundation carry out screenings on 199 people over two days.
Dad Gary Harvey set up the foundation in his son’s memory alongside his step-mum, who is also named Jude.
Gary said: “It is important to keep Jude’s legacy alive.
“It has been horrendously hard since losing Jude and some days you don’t know how to find the strength to face each day.
“It is impossible to put into words, but if we can help stop another family from losing their loved ones, then, hopefully, we are doing something right.
“Everything we do at the foundation is for him.
“Our friends and the community so far have been an amazing support and are incredibly invested in this adventure to make this possible.”
This month, the foundation held its first screening day where young people were able to have their hearts checked.
Gary added: “It was an emotional couple of days. We did 199 screenings over two days.
“A fantastic consultant was able to look at the results and advise what any of them need to do next, if anything.
“The mayor kindly offered us the Civic Centre, in Southend, which was a brilliant opportunity as it is so central and is totally prepared to host an event like our screening days provided by Cardiac Risk In The Young.
“Our darling Jude would be so proud of how hard the team worked.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel