‘My sister had her whole life ahead of her. Then she collapsed and died while out for a run’

At 27 years old and with her life ahead of her, Claire Taylor was excited about her future.

A newly qualified teacher living in Nottingham with her fiancé Paul Betts was planning their wedding and preparing to start special educational needs (SEN) teacher training.

Born in Liverpool, Claire regularly went for runs to clear her head, and on August 26, 2016, on the Friday of the bank holiday weekend, she did just that.

However, during this run, he unexpectedly collapsed on the street.

People in a nearby house came out to help her and an ambulance was called to take her to hospital, but Claire could not be saved.

Her sister Katie Taylor-Rossall, 35, said she and Her partner was due to travel to Nottingham that weekend to try on bridesmaid dresses for Claire and Paul’s wedding when he received a heartbreaking phone call from his family to tell them Claire had died.

Katie said about her sister: Independent: “He truly loved life and was doing everything he could.

“We had just done all the wedding dress shopping for her and I was already planning it. [for the wedding]. We had to go downstairs anyway because we were trying on bridesmaid dresses and stuff like that.

he added: “This was just a complete cardiac arrest on the street that came out of nowhere.”

Claire’s death affected her family deeply, and at first they did not know what caused Claire to collapse. The family later learned he died of sudden arrhythmogenic death syndrome (SADS), a genetic heart condition that can cause sudden death in young, healthy people.

Katie said her sister had experienced some heart palpitations in the months before her death, but was otherwise fit and healthy, and the family had been told there were no signs that suggested she was at risk of a heart attack.

“How scary it was, my sister just collapsed and died with no signs or symptoms,” Katie said.

Following Claire’s death, the family worked with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to find the cause and, most importantly, to help them check if they were at risk of any heart complications.

“It’s so scary when someone dies and you don’t know what it is or if you’re going to be affected,” she said.

“We still don’t know exactly why this happened to Claire,” Katie said. “But we know that the signs and symptoms are not carried by my family or me.”

At least 12 young people die every week in the UK from undiagnosed heart conditions, according to CRY. The charity works to reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death in young people and support people diagnosed with life-changing conditions.

Ten years after Claire’s death, Katie, who lives in Preston and works for the NHS, will swim across three major lakes as part of an effort to raise £10,000 for CRY in memory of her sister. They want to fund more screenings so heart conditions can be detected and diagnosed.

He will swim 29 miles through Coniston, Ullswater and Windermere in the Lake District, creating a swimming ultramarathon.

Friends and family also join the challenges and organize fundraisers to help reach the goal.

On fundraising Katie said: “We are moving towards doing more research and doing more screenings so we can prevent this from happening to others, which is only fair.

“We know how devastating it is to lose someone at the beginning of their incredible life.

“There will be thousands of people across the country who know someone or know someone who knows someone who is suffering this way, but it is preventable,” Katie said.

“If we can prevent one family from going through what we went through, that’s ultimately what it’s all about, right?

“We can’t bring Claire back, but we can stop this from happening to anyone else.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here.