Three teenagers have been sent for further tests after a screening programme revealed abnormal results with their heart.

The problems were detected by experts from the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) as they tested 195 children aged between 15 and 18 at Westlands School, Sittingbourne.

It was held over two days in memory of former pupil Gregg Shoults.

The married dad-of-two died from a heart muscle disease at the family home in Old House Lane, Hartlip, on October 22, 2012.

The 29-year-old had planned to celebrate his 30th birthday by holding a party in a field for family and friends, an idea he took from his sister Fiona after she held a similar event to mark her 40th in the July before he passed away.

Despite their loss, his family decided to continue with the event while at the same time raising funds for CRY.

Greggstival took place in Lower Hartlip Road in June 29,
2013, eight days before
the lorry driver’s birthday.

Due to its success it was held again on June 28 last year.

Both festivals raised enough money to cover the cost of the heart checks held last Tuesday and Wednesday.

Alison Cox MBE, chief executive and founder of CRY, said: “I would like to thank all the friends and family of Gregg Shoults who have worked so hard to raise the funds to bring screening of this scale to their local area of Sittingbourne.

“CRY’s screening programme is significantly subsidised so we are able to provide two days of expert, cardiac screening for around £7,000 – that’s just £35 per person.

“It takes a huge amount of time, energy and commitment to raise this amount of money and I am always humbled by the way in which families – despite their own terrible experience – somehow manage to find the strength to support us to try and prevent other people from the same catastrophic grief as they have endured.”

Every week, 12 apparently fit and healthy young people aged 35 and under lose their lives to sudden cardiac death in the UK.

Of those, 80% showed no previous symptoms.