A FATHER whose 13-year-old daughter died of an undetected heart defect is to take part in the Great North Run in her memory.Laura Fox, 13, was found dead in her bedroom, just days after returning from a family holiday in France in August 1998.

A FATHER whose 13-year-old daughter died of an undetected heart defect is to take part in the Great North Run in her memory.

Laura Fox, 13, was found dead in her bedroom, just days after returning from a family holiday in France in August 1998.

A former Farlingaye High pupil, Laura was athletic, loved sports and had seemed fit and well until the time of her death.

This Sunday her father Pc Robi Fox, an air observer with the police helicopter team, will be braving the 13-mile course encased in a giant, red rubber heart in order to raise funds for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

Pc Fox, 46, of Borrett Place, Woodbridge, said: "It's the first time I've ever done a run like this. I've been following a fairly gruelling programme from one of the running magazines, in fact, I'm suffering a bit today as I did a 10-mile run yesterday!

"I've just tried the heart on and it's not heavy but it's going to be extremely awkward to run in."

He and his wife Kate were devastated by the loss of their daughter in 1998 and have been associated with CRY ever since. They are now county representatives for the charity.

To date the Foxes with the help of friends, family and the local community have raised around £25,000 through various fundraising activities.

Pc Fox will be joined on the run by his sister, Pat Graham, and niece, Rachel Tout, both from Ipswich.

In the June following Laura's death Robi and a group of friends completed the Three Peaks Challenge climbing the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in 36 hours.

Some of the cash has been used to buy an ECG heart testing machine which was donated to Framfield House Doctors' Surgery in Woodbridge.

The rest has been donated to CRY to help with their research into Sudden Cardiac Death – a condition which kills between four and eight young people in the UK every week.

WEBLINK

www.c-r-y.org.uk