Blanca Palacin said that following the death of her husband, Neil Hussey, in 2015 she, along with family and friends, wanted to do something to prevent other Islanders going through the same devastating ordeal.
Earlier this year they set up the Neil Hussey Heart Charity which has the long-term aim of testing the hearts of 1,000 school leavers every year.
And now the charity has reached its first milestone by raising enough funds to screen the hearts of 50 Les Quennevais pupils.
Ms Palacin, mother to Ayla (12) and Sofia (9), said: ‘My husband died in 2015 while he was cycling. His heart stopped. He was very fit, a cyclist, a runner, a swimmer.
‘We were not aware that he was unwell. He appeared fit and healthy. We found out that his heart was not in a good condition and stopped beating. It could not take it anymore.
‘He left behind two children who were eight and six at the time. It has been a shock. It has been quite tough but we are getting there.’
After getting over their initial grief, the family were determined to set up a charity in Mr Hussey’s name.
‘For a while myself and some family were thinking about whether there was anything we could do to prevent other Jersey families going through what we had been through,’ Ms Palacin, who lives in St Brelade and whose mother-in-law Pam Hussey is the charity’s secretary, said.
‘I spoke to Andrew Mitchell [a consultant cardiologist at the Hospital] to see if there was anything the current heart charities don’t cover. He said it would be great if everyone in Jersey could have their hearts screened.’
Ms Palacin said the ideal time for people to be tested is between the ages of 15 and 17.
This year the charity has raised enough funds for Heart For Life and Enhanced Health to test 50 pupils.
Les Quennevais School was picked randomly by the charity and criteria was set to choose the 50 Year 11 pupils to be screened.
Last weekend, 25 screenings were carried out, and another 25 are due to be held on Saturday.
‘We feel that the 50 screenings are a great achievement, as the charity has only been running since January,’ Ms Palacin, who works for an IT company and also runs her own training company, said.
‘For us, our dream in the long term is to be able to offer this testing every year to 1,000 children, which is roughly the number of children that finish mandatory education every year. These conditions sometimes have no symptoms. If my husband had been tested, if he had symptoms, his life could have perhaps been saved.’
Ms Palacin stressed that all funds raised by the charity go towards the cost of heart-screenings and added that her husband, who was the assistant director at Customs, would have been impressed with the charity’s work.
‘He would be really proud to see that this Island and children are benefitting from the efforts of his friends and family who are putting everything into it,’ she said. ‘He loved Jersey, he would be extremely proud.’
Funds have been raised in many ways including the Swimarathon and through local artist and friend Aida de la Herran, who has designed jewellery featuring the charity’s logo. The charity will sell crafts at St Brelade’s Christmas fair on 1 December.
