A “vibrant” 20-year-old student tragically died suddenly from a silent killer heart condition. Poppy Eagle’s heart stopped beating and despite efforts from her family and emergency crews she passed away.
The student, from Washington, in Tyne and Wear, was staying at home for the summer before her tragic death on August 7. The Mirror reports the condition is estimated to effect as many as one in 300 children and young people in the world.
Following her death, her family set up the Poppy’s Light Foundation, a charity that aims to improve both bereavement support and screening for children and young people. They hope whatever caused Poppy’s cardiac arrest could be detected early during screenings.
Poppy’s devastated mum Vicki told Chronicle Live: “Poppy’s Light fundraising has been such a success and there’s a real comfort in that. What we have found is that there is really not a great deal of support around for bereaved children.
“Poppy was such a loving person, so vibrant, so full of light. So the charity is a way of keeping that light shining while doing something that can support other children.
“Along with that there’s the cardiac screening – for us it’s the idea that screening could have at least given us some information that might have saved Poppy and it’s to see if we could save another family from the feelings we have this Christmas.”
According to Poppy’s Light Foundation as many as one in 300 children and young people in the UK could be living with a silent undiagnosed heart condition. The organisation hopes to raise awareness to prevent sudden cardiac deaths among the young via health screenings.
Poppy’s siblings Ollie, Faith, Heidi and Florence have all been closely involved, they were a close unit before the tragedy struck and processing the grief has been very difficult. Much of the inspiration behind the charity’s drive has been to provide better bereavement support for young people.
Speaking about hitting the £25,000 fundraising milestone the family set, Vicki added: “It’s just been the whole community coming together – so many family and friends, but even people who we had never met before have really helped get behind this. In January, my husband and son, and a few other dads and sons, will be climbing Kilamanjaro.”
Vicki, who spent her working life as a nurse, stepped back from her profession when Poppy died in order to support her other children as well as found the charity. She said her work family had been hugely supportive as well and had helped her through some of the toughest times.
To find out more about Poppy’s Light, visit the charity’s website or view its crowdfunding page here.
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