Max Oliver: Father’s fundraising plea for heart screening charity CRY after his Bishop’s Stortford Chindits rugby captain son died of cardiac arrest at 31
The devastated father of a Bishop’s Stortford rugby player who died suddenly from a suspected cardiac arrest is appealing for help to raise money for a local heart screening programme.
Max Oliver collapsed on a train between Newbury and Reading on his way to work last Thursday (September 5). Despite efforts by an off-duty police officer and paramedics, he was pronounced dead when they got him to hospital. He was 31.
An online appeal for charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) has raised almost £25,000 in four days.
Max, a former pupil of Bentfield Primary School in Stansted and The Bishop’s Stortford High School, moved to Berkshire around two years ago to set up home with his fiancée Molly. He worked in sales for international events and conferences company The Hyve Group near Paddington, central London.
His father Perry revealed that while living at the family home in Stansted, Max had described how his heart sometimes “fluttered” and he had had “episodes” after moving to Newbury.
“While we were away on holiday [a month ago] he took himself to A&E and they had him on an ECG [electrocardiogram], but said there was nothing seriously wrong,” Perry told the Indie on Monday. “A specialist checked him out and said maybe it was stress related.”
A post-mortem to determine the cause of Max’s death will be held on Friday (Sept 13).
Perry described his son as a “go large and go home” character who loved a drink. He also loved dogs; he and Molly had just taken on a rescue pug called Gigi.
On leaving school, the “shy and retiring” Max started working in sales at former Ford dealer Gates of Bishop’s Stortford. He found his niche in the job and was successful at it. “Whether you were a lord or a lady he could find a way of making you feel comfortable,” said Perry. “Max lit up a room when he entered.”
Sports mad Max made a huge impression at Bishop’s Stortford Rugby Football Club (BSRFC) after joining as a 12-year-old.
Perry, a former president and chairman of the club at Silver Leys, said: “He played football, cricket and rugby and he was pretty useless really. But one thing I will say for him was he always tried.” The other players took a shine to Max and “loved him for what he was”.
Eventually Max was made captain of the club’s fourth XV, the Chindits, which was a tribute to his leadership qualities. Perry said: “He knew how to build a team – he proved that at work and on the rugby field.”
A minute’s applause for Max was held before Stortford’s National League 1 curtain-raiser against Leicester Lions on Saturday, which they won 36-12. Perry, Max’s mother Liz and younger brother Ted, 27, were among the crowd of 605.
Perry used all his experience as a Met police officer for 30 years to help him face attending the match just 48 hours after Max’s death.
“I have a very ordered mind, and whatever challenges me and Lizzie come up against we feel we’ve just got to face them,” he said.
The love and support from everyone at the club and beyond is illustrated by a flood of comments on a JustGiving page set up on Friday by Max’s friend Spencer Kersey in aid of Cardiac Risk in the Young.
By Tuesday evening, a staggering £24,645 had been donated by 566 supporters. They included Royston rugby club, which donated the sum of its match fines and a post-game collection, and Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club, with the comment: “Sending love and thoughts from your friends down the road.”
Spencer, who described Max as “simply one of the best there was”, said: “Perry asked me to set this page up to attempt to bring a ray of positive light to this situation. So I would ask you to share this as far and wide as you can in the hope that we can support the charity to help other families in the future to avoid the pain that everyone is currently feeling.”
Commenting on the page, the club’s head coach, Tom Coleman, said: “Devastating news to lose such a great character. You will be missed dearly by so many, Max.”
Alfie Adams-House posted: “Beyond a tragedy. One of the best men I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. You will be missed every day, the world is a smaller place without you.”
Claire and Andy Banks said: “That infectious smile and cheekiness with a heart of gold will be so sorely missed by us all. Such a devastating loss to everyone.”
And Lewis Edgeworth commented: “The best man to have ever worn the Stortford blue strip. Always welcoming and inclusive to everyone, and the biggest heart. Rest easy, mate!”
Each week at least 12 young people in the UK die suddenly as a result of undiagnosed heart conditions. CRY can reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death by working with cardiologists and family doctors to establish good practice and appropriate screening facilities to promote and protect the cardiac health of our young.
Perry wants to enable screening in as many local schools as possible. “We’re trying to raise money to prevent other poor people going through this,” he said. “The more we can raise, the more screenings we can fund.”
You can donate here. Visit www.c-r-y.org.uk to see how your support can help.