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Harry's story

Harry had a cardiac arrest at school, aged just seven. A member of staff started CPR immediately and saved his life. He now has an ICD in his chest to keep his heart beating normally. 

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Harry Lovett was only seven years old when he collapsed at an after-school football match, after having a cardiac arrest. A member of school staff jumped into action and performed CPR on him for about 15 minutes as another dialled 999.

An ambulance rushed the young boy to hospital, where a team of doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to save his life. Harry was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Thanks to advances in treatment, developed by visionary researchers, he was back in school less than a month later.

Developing improved genetic tests for HCM

“He had been as healthy as can be. We had no reason to think there were any issues at all”. – Harry’s dad Alex.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition that causes thickening of the heart muscle and affects around 1 in 500 people worldwide. HCM can be inherited. Many of the genes that cause HCM are well-known, but others have yet to be discovered.

Powered by donations to lifesaving BHF-funded research, Professor Chris Denning at the University of Nottingham hopes to reveal how RNA molecules linked to HCM impact how heart cells work. A greater understanding of how genetic mutations cause problems with heart cells could pave the way for new diagnostic tests or treatments for this devastating disease.

Thanks to your generous donations, BHF can fund lifesaving research that brings hope to people like Harry and his family.

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