Sir David Frost’s late son Miles ‘could have lived if told about heart condition’
Sir David Frost's family was not made aware of his heart condition and so none of his sons were tested
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Your support makes all the difference.Relatives of the late Sir David Frost have spoken for the first time about how poor communication led to the untimely death of the veteran broadcaster’s eldest son.
Miles Frost collapsed and died at the age of just 31 last year after leaving home to go for a morning run.
On 31 January, his brothers revealed the death could have been prevented if he had been warned that he may have inherited a potentially fatal heart condition from his father.
George, 28, and Wilfred, 30, told The Sunday Times: “When Dad died at the age of 74 we were all in utter shock.
“He went too soon – both suddenly and unexpectedly.But when our brother died last summer at the age of 31, it was even worse. We are still reeling.”
A private equity firm partner and exercise enthusiast, Miles had left the family home in Oxfordshire on 19 July last year to go for a run following an hour-long boxing workout.When he failed to turn up for lunch, George went out to look for him and found him collapsed on the driveway just a few hundred yards from the house.
Speaking about his death, the brothers said: “Many times one asks why he had to go at all. And with that comes the inevitable question of whether something could have been done that might have prevented his death. Sadly the answer to that is yes.”
After his death, it emerged Miles suffered from Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – an inherited condition caused by a change or mutation in genes.
It can cause sudden death at any age and is believed to have been the reason for footballer Fabrice Muamba’s collapse on the pitch in 2012.
When Sir David Frost died in 2013, a post-mortem had revealed the condition was present in him although he died from a heart attack.
Unfortunately, the family was not made aware of this and so none of Sir David’s sons were tested. Had Miles been diagnosed with the condition, he could have treated with drugs or a pacemaker.
Now the family has formed the Miles Frost Fund to work in partnership with the British Heart Foundation establishing a family-based screening programme for HCM and similar heart conditions. The aim is to provide clinical and genetic testing services across the country to ensure anyone living with HCM gets the right treatment before it’s too late.
“Miles’ death will always be incomprehensible to Mum and us”, said the brothers.
But they added: “If we can help prevent just one death in the future, then Miles will not have died in vain.”
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