A FUN day was held in the memory of two men who died from previously undiagnosed heart conditions.

The event, at the Anchor Ground, Darwen, will boost the proceeds of the Cardiac Risk In The Young, which buys equipment capable of detecting heart problems.

It was organised by the parents of David Staff and Neil Wickers.

David, 17, of Carus Avenue, Hoddlesden, died after collapsing near the end of the 10 kilometre Darwen Dashers Road Race in December, 1994.

It was later found he had suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition which occurs as a result of a thickening of the heart muscles.

Neil, 31, a financial adviser, of St Alban's Road, Darwen, collapsed at the Albion Mill gym, Ewood, Blackburn. His heart had been weakened by a virus of which he had been unaware.

Since the tragedies, David and Neil's parents have joined forces to raise £6,000 for a mobile ECG machine, which could be used to screen for 90 per cent of the heart conditions that kill young people.

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