Helen Hand 💙

The big day is so close now, and we can finally tell you about our first set of winners for 2024 - ITV’s regional Fundraisers of the Year. 🏆 ITV’s regional news programmes have been searching for amazing fundraisers in their area, and they have now chosen 17 inspirational regional winners, spanning the length and breadth of the country. 💜 First up we've got ITV ANGLIA EAST winner, Helen Petley, Helen returned from work to find her “loving, caring, funny and hardworking” son Tom had tragically died in his sleep. He was just 20 years old, had been to the gym that evening and had no warning signs or known health issues. He had died from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome - a rare condition where someone dies from a cardiac arrest with no obvious cause. Helen set up the Tom Petley Memorial Fund with the national charity Cardiac Risk in the Young. Since it was formed in 1995, the charity has been raising awareness and putting on heart-screening days across the country. It subsidises electrocardiograms (ECG) to screen young people between the ages of 14 and 35 for cardiac abnormalities. All of the public screenings are free to attend. ✨ @itvanglia @DailyMirror @TSB #prideofbritain