A MAN whose close friend died suddenly as a teenager is fronting a national drive to raise awareness of heart disease.

James Ashman has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to speak about his loss as part of the charity’s Last Words campaign and will hold a charity golf day.

The aim is to highlight the sudden devastation of heart disease and how BHF research is bringing hope to the millions of people living with these conditions.

James, a 23-year-old golfer from Bognor, had known his friend Daniel Hoare since they were children.

Daniel was an 18-year-old student at Worthing College when he collapsed while running to catch a train at West Worthing station in November 2011.

The teenager had been suffering from an undetected heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The condition causes the heart wall to become thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood around the body.

In the Last Words campaign, James shares the pain of not getting to say a final goodbye to his friend before he died.

He said: “I’d known Daniel since we were four years old and he was like a brother to me.

“We used to play golf most evenings after school and we always made plans for the future and hoped we’d be best man at each other’s weddings.

“I tried to ring him on the day that he died but I was about ten minutes too late.

“My only regret would be not phoning him ten minutes earlier, just to speak to him.

“Each year, we hold a charity day to raise money for the BHF’s life saving research in the hope that others will not have to go through the loss that we did with Daniel.”

In the UK, more than a quarter of all deaths are caused by heart and circulatory disease, which equates to one person every three minutes.

BHF chief executive Simon Gillespie said: “Heart disease can suddenly affect anyone at any time and has a huge emotional impact on those left behind.

“We have committed to funding half a billion pounds of research over the next five years into these conditions that continue to devastate the lives of more than seven million people in the UK each year.”

The Daniel Hoare Charity Fun Day will take place on Sunday August 28 at Bognor Golf Club.

The day involves rounds of golf followed by an afternoon barbecue and evening event with dinner, disco and prize giving.

Tickets are available on the door or by visiting bognorgolfclub.co.uk