By John Connell

Published at 12:11, Thursday, 01 November 2012

A mother is pleading for the return of trophies donated in memory of her teenage son.

Craig’s parents Pauline and Barrie Dixon

Promising athlete Craig Dixon was just 14 when he collapsed and died without warning on a training run in Workington 27 years ago.

The 6ft 2in teenager had been suffering from an undiagnosed condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a thickening of the heart muscle – when he collapsed on Honister Drive.

His parents Pauline and Barrie donated one of the cups to the Cumbria Boys and Girls Footracing Association so that his name would live on in the sporting world.

But the Craig Dixon Memorial Cup went missing after the club folded along with a second cup in memory of Craig and his grandfather Horace Dixon.

Pauline Dixon, 64, of Infirmary Road, said: “Our stipulation was that the trophies remained with the Association as long as they were being used, and after that come back to us, Craig’s parents.

“I have been trying for a while to locate them with no success. No ones seems to know where they are. This is causing us some distress and we need answers. It would mean a lot if they were returned.

“It has been 27 years since that dreadful day but to us it feels like yesterday and the awful thing is no one seems to acknowledge his existence.

“We are desperate for these cups to be found and returned to their rightful place.”

Mrs Dixon did not know her son had been born with a heart defect until 10 years after his death.

She only found out by getting in touch with a charity called Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) which wants young people - particularly those involved in sport - to undergo medical tests.

Mrs Dixon, who has done a lot of work for the charity, said “I hadn’t a clue. It was a ticking time bomb.”

Famous sufferers include Fabrice Muamba, the former Bolton Wanderers player, who collapsed at White Hart Lane in London on March 17 in a game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Craig’s parents do not know exactly when the Association folded but they have been trying to track the trophies down for at least a decade.

Both the trophies been described as silver-played bowl on a stem with a black base.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk