Two hundred attend heart screening event

Two of Shetland Heart Screening’s committee members Siobhan Pirie and Andrea Laurenson with the Cardiac Risk in the Young staff.

Over 200 people attended a free heart screening event in Lerwick at the weekend, and the wheels
are in motion for it to return to Shetland next year.

The screenings took place at the Clickimin Leisure Centre for people aged 14 to 35, and were carried out by the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, whose team of eight travelled to Shetland from the mainland.

The event’s was made even more special by the screening of Robbie Anderson, who turned up on his 14th birthday on Sunday.

Robbie is the youngest person ever screened by Cardiac Risk in the Young in the UK.

Over 10 people have been referred for further checks following the event.

Shetland Heart Screening is made up of three committee members: Siobhan Pirie, Fern Johnson and
Andrea Laurenson.

The group formed a few years ago when Ms Pirie’s husband John unexpectedly died in 2017 at the age of just 29 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The trio are so delighted to be able to facilitate the screening and are incredibly grateful and overwhelmed by the support received to date, made possible thanks to a fundraising drive in the community, as well as support from some local sponsors.

Each event costs £14,000 and the team also want to thank NorthLink, Bolts Car Hire and Clickimin for sponsorship and support for the 2025 event.

To enable future screening events to be scheduled, the team at Shetland Heart Screening are
currently running a lucky squares fundraiser.