An 11-year-old girl died in her sleep from a heart attack — the result of an undiagnosed and very rare heart condition.
On the morning of April 3, 2024, Matilda Pritchard’s parents found her unresponsive in her bed. Paramedics called to their home in the English town of Pudsey were unable to revive her.
Her father, Steve Pritchard, 43, told South West News Service, via The Daily Mail, that she had gone to sleep “normally” the night before, and was otherwise “healthy.”
But her parents later learned Matilda had an undiagnosed heart condition: arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVD), a rare disease in which fatty or fibrous tissue replaces damaged heart muscle, causing it to contract weakly and impacting the flow of blood.
Matilda Pritchard, 11, died in her sleep from an undiagnosed heart condition.
SWNS
ARVD “carries a high risk of abnormal heart rhythms that can be fatal for young adults,” the Cleveland Clinic says, adding that “sudden cardiac death” can be the very first sign that someone has ARVD.
If diagnosed early, treatment such as blood thinners and other medications can help manage the condition. But when the condition is not discovered, “ARVD causes 11% of sudden cardiac deaths — and 22% of sudden cardiac deaths in athletes — aged 35 and younger,” according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Steve and Anna Pritchard with their daughters Olivia (left) and Matilda.
SWNS
“We were immediately worried about Olivia,” Pritchard told the outlet, referring to their other daughter and hoping she also did not have the condition.
“She’s 14, and symptoms usually start around 13. But everything’s come back completely clean — we’re all fine.”
Although Matilda is gone, the family continues her legacy by protecting the environment. Matilda used to be found “regularly picking up litter in her local Pudsey parks,” the family wrote in an online fundraiser for the UK’s Eco-Schools project, where they’re raising money in their daughter’s name.
Matilda Pritchard.
SWNS
“The money raised will help educate and inspire a whole new generation of children to hopefully be as passionate about the environment and a world without rubbish as she was,” the Pritchards explained.
“It’s been catastrophically terrible,” Pritchard told SWNS, “but I’m hoping we can start the process of our little girl’s dream, of a world without litter.”
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