THE widower of a young Hampshire woman who died from a rare heart condition has stepped up his campaign to push for national testing for the devastating illness.

Andy Reed wants compulsory screening for the fatal condition Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) to be available on the NHS.

And now Andy, from Eastleigh, is taking his campaign all the way to the Parliament by launching a mass online petition.

The condition claimed his wife Claire’s life when she collapsed and died while out celebrating at a hen party in March last year. She was aged just 22.

The tragedy happened just five months after the couple had tied the knot at their own dream wedding.

Andy’s petition comes a year after his family held a high-profile meeting with health secretary Jeremy Hunt who ordered NHS officers to conduct a review which is due to be released next month.

Now Andy is turning up the heat by launching a petition demanding plans for screening are debated in the House of Commons.

He needs 100,000 signatures to trigger a debate and an initial 10,000 requiring the Government to provide an online response to their demands.

Andy, 28, who lives in Sand Martin Close, said: “We have been campaigning for screening since Claire’s death and this is now a way we can knock on the door from another angle.

“Our drive is about saving lives. A debate will get the awareness out there because if people do not know about SADS then they don’t have a chance.

“When Claire died I knew nothing about it, but if I had we would have done testing for sure.”

Since her death Andy and Claire’s parents have raised nearly £40,000 for the Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) charity which campaigns for SADS screening and research.

The family has also funded mass screenings for 500 youngsters and will this month start taking bookings for 200 more at a testing event being held on the weekend of January 17 and 18 in Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Passfield Avenue.

They will also be holding a Cake Bake sale from 2-4pm on Friday, November 28, in Botley Market Hall, High Street, Botley, where homemade treats will be sold in aid of CRY. See epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/70280.