3:00pm Monday 25th May 2009
By Alex Hayes
THE brother of a man who died suddenly in his sleep following a seizure is preparing to run the Stockholm Marathon to raise money for an epilepsy charity.
Former Royal Grammar School pupil Patrick Mawhood, 33, is set to run the gruelling 26-mile course in memory of his younger brother Matthew, who died suddenly two years ago aged 27.
Patrick, who played junior rugby for High Wycombe and football for Loudwater and now lives in Sweden, is hoping to complete the course in about four hours on Saturday, May 30.
His mother Sheila, who lives in Brands Hill Avenue, High Wycombe, said epilepsy charities need cash to do more research into sudden unexplained death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
She said: “About 1,000 people die every year from SUDEP, but no-one knows why. They have barely scratched the surface of the problem, the more they learn the more they find there is to discover.
“Matthew was never diagnosed as having epilepsy, and it took a long time to find out what it was that caused his death.
“No-one knows why some people can go through their lives with very serious epilepsy and live to an old age, while other people have one seizure and die.”
Matthew, who was working as a telecoms recruitment consultant in Wooburn Green when he died, was discovered by his housemates after failing to turn up for work.
It took three months for doctors to work out his cause of death, after ruling out other common causes like heart failure.
His father, Christopher, said: “I remember the day he died the police came to see me. I had to come home and tell Sheila, and by midnight his brothers were back here from Sweden and Ireland.
“It was completely devastating for all of us, especially as it took so long to find out what had happened to him. We all really miss him still.
“About three months after he died we found a charity called Epilepsy Bereaved, who were really good at explaining what SUDEP was, and they really help a lot of families.
“Epilepsy is not one of the fashionable conditions so does not attract a lot of funding, but hopefully Patrick can raise a bit of money and awareness for this.”
Following the marathon Patrick is also planning to tackle the Tour de Mont Blanc, a 170km trek around the Alps, in August.
If you would like to sponsor Patrick you can do so through www.justgiving.co.uk/pm_sverige.
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