A mother who has worked tirelessly to bring heart screening to Oswestry has spoken of her disappointment after a series of missed appointments at the latest sessions.

Sue Dewhirst, from St Martins, began her work with CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young – after her son Matthew died from an undiagnosed heart defect in July 2012 at the age of 17.

So far more than 3,000 young people aged 14 to 35 have been screened during the free sessions hosted through Mrs Dewhirst's fundraising.

But at the latest sessions hosted by The Marches Academy on Saturday and Sunday, several appointments were missed – including a staggering 20 out of 24 over the first two hours of Sunday morning.

She said: "If these had been around we would have encouraged Matthew to take part.

"That is the really frustrating part if people do not turn up, because I wish someone had offered this to Matthew.

"But because it is free people think that it is being funded by the NHS, they don't realise a lot of people have done a lot of hard work to arrange and pay for them.

"For those who have booked a screening they will receive a text message and an email a couple of days before to remind them of their appointment with an option to cancel if they cannot make it."

Mrs Dewhirst explained that they aim for around 100 screenings a day – 98 were completed on the Saturday – with the CRY team working almost flat out.

Those taking part are mostly aged 14 to 25, which is why they are usually held at schools, and each screening takes no longer than 30 minutes. It includes a questionnaire, which looks at general health and family history, and an ECG. Those who need it then have a special ultrasound to look at the heart. Anyone with a defect is referred for further treatment.

Mrs Dewhirst added: "There are at least 12 young people a week dying of undiagnosed heart defects and you do not know you are going to be one of them, there are no symptoms."

Of the 3,000 young people screened locally over the last few years, six per cent were found to have heart defects of differing seriousness and were referred for treatment.

To find out more about CRY, the screening sessions, and how to fundraise, visit www.c-r-y.org.uk/