Raising awareness on genetic heart conditions

Lucinda McNerney didn’t know she had a genetic heart condition until she suffered cardiac arrest while in hospital for a sore throat. Now she is raising awareness of the importance of screening.

WHEN Lucinda McNerney was 18 years old, she went to hospital with dehydration following a severe sore throat. She wasn’t considered a critically ill patient so it was just sheer luck a nurse happened to be passing when the teenager unexpectedly suffered a cardiac arrest.

Every week in Ireland, at least one person under the age of 35 dies from an undiagnosed heart problem. Lucinda, from Midleton, Co Cork, who is now 41, was completely unaware that she had a genetic heart condition called Long QT Syndrome.