Welcome to the Daniel Wilkinson Foundation, a charity setup in memory of Daniel who died on the 12th September 2016, aged 24, playing the game he loved, from an underlying heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC).

ARVC is an inherited condition that causes the replacement of cardiac muscle with fibrous, fatty tissue.  This causes the walls in the heart chamber to become thin and stretched, impacting how the blood is pumped around the body and causing abnormal heart rhythms which can lead to Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).

ARVC can be found in one in 1,000 to 5,000 young adults – IF IT IS LOOKED FOR.

SCD is the leading cause of death in young athletes during sport and the majority of deaths occur with NO PRIOR SYMPTOMS or family history.

Warning signs may include, light-headedness, fainting, palpitations, swollen legs, breathlessness.

Every week in the UK, twelve apparently fit and healthy young people (aged 35 and under) die from previously undiagnosed heart conditions.

In Italy, where screening is mandatory for all young people engaged in organised sport they have reduced the incidence of Sudden Cardiac Death in the young by 89%.

Our aim is to raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death in the young and to provide funding towards heart screening, defibrillators and CPR/defibrillator training, primarily for grass-roots sporting teams.

Tragedies like this can be prevented through cardiac screening, to us, it is vital that young people who may be at risk are identified and treated.