A SUMMER ball for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) has raised £1,560.

The fund raising is in memory of Leanne Brownhill, the 24-year-old nurse from Ludlow who died aged 26 in 2013.

In 2005 Leanne was diagnosed with a form of cardiomyopathy – a genetic weakness of the heart muscle that can affect young people.

Although the disease has no cure it can be managed in a number of ways.

There had been talk about a possible heart transplant at some stage in the future at the time Leanne died.

Leanne had not allowed her illness to prevent her from making the most of her life and one of her proudest moments was when she was awarded a nursing degree from Manchester University.

At the time of her death, she was a staff nurse in Redditch.

Cardiomyopathy is not like a ‘heart attack’ in which a blockage starves the heart of oxygen.

It is a degenerative condition affecting the heart muscle which can thicken or thin depending upon the type of cardiomyopathy.

The condition can affect people at any age put is generally associated with the sudden collapse and death of young people including sportsmen and women who had always appeared fit and healthy.

In some cases like Leanne’s there will be symptoms that can include fainting and shortness of breath but in other incidences there are no indications that anything is wrong.

Diagnosis and screening involves tests including an ultrasound of the heart and electrocardiogram.

Since Leanne died there has been an extensive programme of fundraising for CRY in her memory.

Recently, Mark Hume who was a friend of Leanne’s, did the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for the charity. Other fundraising has included a parachute jump.