Young man's death sparked the establishment of Sads Foundation

When Dwayne Chow died suddenly last year his family was plunged into despair and confusion. The 31-year-old had always been happy and healthy. So what had happened?

The night before, the family shared a meal, and Dwayne stayed over at his parents' house. He seemed well when his mother Shirley Chan Chow gave him a hug before he went to bed. But Dwayne didn't wake up the next morning. His death happened so fast that he never even went to hospital; he was taken straight to the mortuary.

An autopsy failed to reveal what had happened. The toxicology tests were clear and the pathologist reported nothing wrong with his heart or brain. He'd had a full medical check-up a few months earlier which had come back positive. "We were totally lost, we didn't understand. He led a very healthy life," says Chan Chow.

Because there was no known cause of death, a death certificate wasn't issued for months. The police pestered the family with questions, making them go over the events of their last evening with Dwayne, and compounding their anguish.

Racked by grief, Chan Chow began her own search for an answer. It was a quest that began online and then took her to Britain. Her investigations led her to establish the Sads Hong Kong Foundation, which she launched three months ago.

Sads (Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes) is a group of genetic heart rhythm abnormalities that can cause sudden death in young, apparently healthy people. It's an inherited condition, and each child of an affected parent has a 50 per cent chance of getting it.