Twelve lives ended in an instant. Each with their own hopes and dreams for the future. Until they died. Leaving loved ones left in immeasurable despair and families changed forever.
We're funding groundbreaking research that will help save young lives for generations to come. Projects like CureHeart, which aims to cure inherited heart muscle diseases, and pioneering research into sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).
This work is only the beginning. We need your help to keep hearts beating. Together we can protect precious hearts and create a future where young people dying from sudden cardiac death is a distant memory.
Twelve dreams lost in an instant
Read the real stories of some of the young people tragically lost to sudden cardiac death. Please note, these stories contain upsetting content.
Chris, 22
"Losing a child never leaves you. There's always a piece of you missing."
View Chris's story
Claire, 22
"She was the last person you’d expect to have a sudden cardiac arrest."
View Claire's story
Danny, 27
"If you want to do something, do it. Time waits for no one. Sadly, for Danny that was true."
View Danny's story
Jake, 16
"I can't help wondering what sort of young man he would have become."
View Jake's story
Jamie, 13
"I'll never get over losing Jamie.
None of us will."
View Jamie's story
Jenny, 22
"It's bittersweet seeing how far women's football has come since Jenny's death."
View Jenny's story
Joseph, 23
"We didn’t know what caused his death. It was hard to deal with."
View Joseph's story
Josh, 24
"Your hear about things like this happening, but you never think it will happen to your family."
View Josh's story
Libbey, 20
“Libbey was my only sibling. When she died it was like I’d lost half of my body."
View Libbey's story
Myles, 15
"Losing your child is the worst thing that can happen to you. You're supposed to go first."
View Myles's story
Taylor, 14
"I felt sick and in shock. We still didn’t know the cause of the cardiac arrest."
View Taylor's story
Tom, 23
"Looking back, I don’t know how we got through the first months after losing Tom."
View Tom's story
The lifesaving research BHF funds
CureHeart
Led by Professors Hugh Watkins and Christine Seidman, CureHeart brings together world-class researchers across 3 continents. They're trying to cure inherited heart muscle diseases, which affect around 30 million people globally.
Learn more about CureHeart
Research into SADS
We're funding research led by Professor Elijah Behr to discover the genetic causes of SADS. This work seeks to find faulty mutated genes that cause inherited heart conditions, preventing tragedies from happening and saving lives.
Learn more about the research into SADS
Donate now to save lives
Thanks to your donations, we’re funding research into:
- finding a cure for inherited heart muscle diseases
- discovering the genetic causes of SADS.
We need you to help fund lifesaving research that keeps more hearts beating. With your support we can protect precious hearts and help keep more families together for longer.
Donate now to save lives
Thanks to your donations, we’re funding research into:
- finding a cure for inherited heart muscle diseases
- discovering the genetic causes of SADS.
We need you to help fund lifesaving research that keeps more hearts beating. With your support we can protect precious hearts and help keep more families together for longer.
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Other ways you can support us
- Play our weekly charity lottery
- Play our weekly lottery from just £1 per week and help fund lifesaving research.
- Join an event
- Challenge yourself and join an event to support lifesaving research. Run, swim, cycle, hike or more.
- Leave a gift in your Will
- Over half of our income comes from gifts in Wills. We need them to continue our groundbreaking research.
Learn more about cardiac arrest
- What you need to know about cardiac arrest
- Learn about the symptoms of cardiac arrest, the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack and more.
- Learn CPR in 15 minutes
- Many of us will witness a cardiac arrest in our lifetime. Learn CPR for free in 15 minutes with RevivR, our free interactive tool.
- Find your nearest defibrillator
- Find out where defibrillators are in your local area with the Defib Finder map and website.
Do you need more support?
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