Mark Heffernan Trust

The Trust was established in 2010 by the family and friends of Mark Heffernan, who passed away in his sleep at his apartment in GMIT on 21th January 2008. He was only 23 years old, and had just completed his mid-term exams.

Mark was an exceptionally gentle and caring young man, with an avid interest in sport, music, his car, his friends, and his family. His passing caused great sadness and shock, and an immediate awareness of a silent killer which touches a remarkable number of families every year. Approximately every week in Ireland, a young person dies from an undiagnosed heart condition. The term ‘SADS’ ( Sudden Adult/Arrhythmic Death Syndrome ) is used where no abnormality can be identified to explain the specific cause of death.

The work of The Trust will, it is hoped, ultimately benefit our youth, while highlighting this tragic and silent killer, and in doing so, will honour the memory of a remarkable young man who cared so much for those around him.

The Trust is current deploying defibrillators to Schools Nationwide while also funding both CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) and Heart House who are devoted to researching SADS in an effort to fight it while also counselling those bereaved by the disease.