"I lost both my parents to heart attacks"

WHEN he was in his twenties, Kieron Morris lost both his parents suddenly to heart attacks. 

Wendy, a part time nurse, was just 50-years-old when she collapsed at work. Kieron’s father Richard died, aged 55, at a friend’s birthday party. 

Kieron, 33, from Clifton Moor in York, said: “Nothing can prepare you for getting a phone call out of the blue and finding out your mum has had a heart attack, or watching your own father keel over in front of you.

“Losing both parents to heart attacks was such a shock. They were both happy, healthy people going about their daily lives - you just don’t expect your loved ones to be torn away from you like that.

"It can happen to anybody. You're blissfully unaware and expect your parents to live until they are 70 or 80. To lose one is unlucky but to lose both to the same thing is very difficult."

Dad-of-two Kieron (who is pictured with his parents and little sister Kylie above in 1990) is one of the many young people across Yorkshire to lose a parent prematurely to a heart attack. 

Heart attacks kill nearly 2,200 people prematurely each year in Yorkshire and the Humber, figures from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have revealed.

In York, an average of 67 people a year die prematurely (classed as under 75-years-old) from heart attacks. In Ryedale, it averages about 25, and in the East Riding of Yorkshire, 145. 

The death of his parents had made Kieron, a maintenance controller (pictured below with his parents in 2003), very conscious of looking after his health to be around for as long as possible for his children Ellenah, six, and Freddy, four.

He's started taking part in marathons and triathlons and is very conscious of living a healthy lifestyle. 

"I have lost both parents, my kids haven't got a set of grandparents," Kieron said, "I'm always quite conscious of the fact my parents died at a young age. It's in the back of my mind. My wife always says she dreads the day I turn 50 and am expecting to keel over. 

“Heart disease is so cruel, it takes people without warning. That’s why it’s so important that we fund research to fight heart disease and prevent others going through the suffering I have been through.”

Around 216,000 people in Yorkshire and the Humber are living with the main cause of heart attack, chronic heart disease (CHD) and it remains the UK’s single biggest killer. 

But very little is known about atherosclerosis – the process that causes narrowing of the coronary arteries and potentially fatal heart attacks. 

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Through medical research, we’ve made great progress in saving the lives of people suffering from heart attacks. But we mustn’t be lulled into thinking we’ve beaten the disease. Every year thousands of people are still dying from heart attacks, and coronary heart disease remains the UK’s single biggest killer. 

“We urgently need to fund more research to find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks, and ultimately, save more lives. Despite knowing some of the lifestyle and genetic factors that increase the risk of heart attack, we still have no way to stop the furring of the arteries in coronary heart disease that is responsible for causing so many heart attacks. This is a challenge that only research can provide the answer to.”

A heart attack strikes someone every three minutes in the UK - with almost 188,000 heart attacks treated in UK hospitals in 2013/2014. This figure is up from 175,000 the year before, which the charity says could be due to better diagnosis and recording. Despite improvements in treatment and diagnosis, around a third of heart attacks are fatal. 

Although figures remain high, medical research has significantly improved heart attack survival rates through better diagnosis and treatments. However, the BHF - which funds more than £27million of research in the region - says more research is urgently needed to save more lives and combat CHD. 

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Every week heart attacks devastate hundreds of families across the UK, by killing loved ones at an early age and leaving many others with debilitating heart conditions that make the rest of their life a daily struggle. 

“The only way we can find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks is by funding more research.

Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters, much of the research we’ve funded over the last 50 years is today helping to save and improve lives." 
 
The average number of premature heart attack deaths a year in North and East Yorkshire:
York - 67
Selby - 27
East Riding of Yorkshire - 145
Hambleton - 37
Harrogate - 49 
Ryedale - 25
Scarborough - 59