2023 Winner
DEBORAH DIXON
Grieving mum raised £500,000 to fund potentially life-saving heart screening for young people after losing her only son
Deborah Dixon’s son Aaron was just 23 when he died suddenly at home, one of 12 young people who die every week in the UK from an undetected heart defect. “It’s a very dark place when you lose a child, a very lonely place,” said Deborah. When Deborah learned more about her son’s cause of death following the tragedy in 2011, she was stunned by what she found.
“It was the coroner when he called to tell us the cause of death that directed us to the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young,” said Deborah. “I did look at the website and was shocked at the amount of young people that were losing their lives and something as simple as an ECG could detect those defects and potentially save all these young lives.”
It was then that Deborah vowed to do all in her power to stop the same thing happening to other families, setting up a memorial fund in honour of her son to raise money to provide cardiac screening for young people.
“ I thought this became her salvation really,” says Aaron’s dad, Gary. Since 2014 Deborah, along with a team of supporters, has raised more than half a million pounds, paying for 5,371 people to be screened. Of those, 168 were found to have potentially fatal problems. Charlotte Carney-Hughes was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy after a screening hosted by Debbie. Charlotte says: “Debbie, you are literally the reason that I’m still here. You are absolutely amazing.”
Dr Steven Cox, CEO, Cardiac Risk In The Young, explains why Deborah’s work has made such an impact. He says: “Debbie has not only helped provide screening to thousands of young people, she has also done so much to raise awareness, making people aware that fit and healthy young people can die suddenly from these undiagnosed cardiac conditions, and the importance of cardiac screening.”
Deborah added: “There’s 12 young people losing their lives every single week. That’s 12 families going through the heartache that we go through every day. Screening is about giving those young people a tomorrow, something that Aaron didn’t have.” Gary added: “I think she’s made it her life’s mission now, to continue to do this in memory of our son Aaron.”