Alessandro - known to everyone as Ally - is my son, in fact he's my only child.  

Ally died in the summer of 2018 from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, an undiagnosed heart condition affecting the electrical functionality of his heart.  He was 17 years old. At no time did Ally display the slightest symptom that anything was wrong.  

Before Ally died, I hadn't given much thought to cardiac death in young people. With no family history, I thought that's the sort of thing that happens to someone else and that in any event it couldn't happen without warning.  Wrong and wrong again! 

Young Sudden Cardiac Death is more common that most people realise. In the UK, each week at least 12 young people die from it.  In fact, it's the single biggest natural cause of death in young people. That's bad enough but what makes these deaths unacceptable is that 90% of them are preventable.

As Ally's parents, Nadia and I are  committed to raising awareness of young sudden cardiac death and to raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young, a charity dedicated to understanding and eliminating young cardiac death.  To this end and to symbolise my love for Ally, I'm a participant in the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race - the 2019/20 edition!  

Originally I planned to sail the second half of the race, from East Asia to the UK, in 2020.  However, the pandemic intervened and I was back home before getting my feet wet!  I didn't publicise my involvement in the Race at the time because in the lead up to me joining the Race it was already becoming clear that it was likely to be stopped. Now the race is about to resume and this time it will be completed.

The Clipper Round The World Yacht Race is one of the biggest endurance challenges of the natural world.  It's a 40,000 nautical miles race around the world on a 70-foot ocean racing yacht, part of an identical fleet of eleven. Divided into 8 legs, crew can choose to complete the circumnavigation or select individual legs.  

I am doing the second half of the Race, sailing 20,000 nautical miles from Subic Bay in the Philippines to London, with some stops along the way!  The first leg of my challenge involves a North Pacific Crossing to Seattle, equivalent to 7,000 land miles, non-stop!

My race starts on 24 March.  After three weeks in the Philippines, and 10 Covid Tests, the fleet has just received clearance to go. It will end in London on 30 July, fittingly the day before Ally's anniversary.

Prior to becoming involved with Clipper I had never sailed before and as a virtual non swimmer - a "width" is my limit - had always regarded the sea as something to be looked at, not ventured into or onto! 

I'm a member of the crew of WTC Logistics.  You can track our progress at www.clipperroundtheworld.com/race/standings

You will also be able to follow me at www.instagram.com/sailforally/ 

I haven't set a fundraising target for this challenge because  I feel uncomfortable asking people for money - even though that is what I am doing now!  Instead, I hope Ally's story and the fact that, with your help, tragedies like his can be prevented encourages donations.  To date, previous fundraising on Ally's behalf has raised many tens of thousands of pounds.

I hope you feel able to support my cause.  On behalf of Nadia and myself, thank you for your donation - it will make a real difference to the lives of young people and their families.

And thank you for taking the time to read "My Story".

Steve

Cardiac Risk in the Young More information about Young Sudden Cardiac Death and CRY can be found at www.c-r-y.org.uk

One last thing.......If you are a young person or the parents of a young person, please consider screening.  It’s a simple and painless procedure based on an ECG.  More information about this and how to book a screening is available at www.testmyheart.org.uk -
a UK screening service operated by CRY.