In 2005, fit and healthy Isle of Man local footballer, Craig Lunt, went to bed and did not wake up. At the early age of twenty-five Craig passed away in unknown circumstances. It was a story that shocked, his family, friends, and the Isle of Man community.
Several weeks following Craig’s death it was confirmed that he had died of a genetic heart defect, that he and his family were unaware he had.
From this tragedy Craig’s family and friends decided to create a Charity named Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation https://craigsheartstrongfoundation.co.uk to raise awareness of these prevalent heart conditions, and to try avoid something like this happening to anyone else on the Island. Close to twenty years later and Craig’s legacy lives on in one of the most well-respected charities on the Isle of Man.
We caught up with the Chairman of Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation and our Senior Client Relationship Manager at Boston, Paul Healey BEM, to find out more about the work they have and continue to do.
How did you get involved with Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation?
Craig was my best friend and was a huge part of my life. We would do everything together. His death was a huge shock to us all, but we all needed something to focus on to help us through the grief. Craig’s family decided to create a local Charity as soon as they found out why he had died to raise awareness of these conditions. I was asked to be a part of the committee and within a short time was appointed Chairman.
The Charity was set up to raise awareness of heart conditions but how did this change over the years?
The initial aim of the Charity was to learn more about certain genetic heart defects and raise the awareness of them but the fundraising contributions that were coming into the Charity outweighed the work we could do so we needed to come up with a new idea in order to give the Isle of Man community some value for their donations. Craig’s Dad, Keith, had been talking to his brother who was a doctor and he told him all about a UK Charity called Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) https://www.c-r-y.org.uk . CRY’s focus was to conduct heart screenings on young men and women across the UK. In 2007 Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation and CRY teamed up for the first time to conduct free heart screenings to over three hundred people. In this first heart screening weekend eleven people were found with problems, one of which required major heart surgery. The screenings have gone from strength to strength over this time and in 2023 we screened our 10,000th heart which was something of which we were super proud. In this figure more than 380 people were found with problems.
Whist providing a free heart screening service to the Isle of Man community, the fundraising was coming in thick and fast and as a committee we were looking for more ideas on what we could do further. In 2012 a professional footballer called Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest during a live premier league game and was saved by the quick thinking of a doctor and a life-saving defibrillator machine. In the days following this incident we decided that as Craig’s passion was football, we would purchase and donate defibrillator machines to all twenty-seven local football teams. Following this we then provided defibrillators to every school on the Island, multiple offices, and over 180 public access defibrillators at various locations across the Island. Altogether the charity has donated over 565 defibrillators since the first one was handed over.
With 565 defibrillators donated, how many have been used?
It is hard to tell as we do not get told about them all but we do know of five that have been used which makes us strive to donate more defibrillators as it just goes to show how important they are. Used quickly following immediate CPR this can increase life expectancy by 70%, making it vital to have these machines on hand all around the island. You can actually view your nearest defibrillator at https://manngis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e8612fcf28ef49f38871950fda86beba
You say the Charity has been well supported over the years, just how important is that support?
The support of the local community and local businesses is vital for our Charity to survive. Without the fundraising efforts of many people, we would not be able to continue to do what we do. Every penny donated to the Charity goes straight back into the heart screenings or to purchase defibrillators. Every committee member is a volunteer to enable all funds to be used in the best viable way. The support of the Isle of Man community has always been huge, and I feel as though they can see the results of the work we do constantly. We hold 2 heart screening weekends per year at a cost of £27,500 for each weekend so just to carry this on we need to raise £55,000 per year so any support is most welcome and you can make a donation at https://donate.justgiving.com/charity/craigsheartstrongfoundation/donation-amount
How important are the committee members?
For many years myself and Craig’s Mum, Paula, have done most of the work with the help of a couple of other committee members but, over the last few years the demands of the charity have grown, and it has become a Charity that has raised over £1.3m.
Due to this, a new committee was built to assist with the additional work. The work the committee put in is lifesaving and I cannot thank every one of them enough.
The Charity has had great recognition over the years for its amazing work but none more so than when you were presented with the British Empire Medal in the late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Birthday Honours List in 2022. How did this make you feel?
This was a huge honour to receive the medal for the work the Charity had done over the years and was a huge surprise. The recognition is great but the awareness of the Charity and what it does was the best part of it for me. It gave us a lot of publicity, focus, and drove donations up again allowing us to purchase even more life-saving defibrillators. The medal was for everyone that had ever been involved with the Charity and more importantly for Craig. To see his name being associated with saving lives on the Island gives us all immense pleasure because he was such an important person.
What next for Craig’s Heartstrong Foundation?
We will just continue to do what we do, heart screenings and when funding allows us, we will put further defibrillators around our Island.
If you would like to find out more or get involved https://craigsheartstrongfoundation.co.uk
