A Bradford mum is calling for more awareness of life-threatening heart conditions which go undetected in the young.

Wendy Butters, of Chapel Green, made the plea after her teenage son Nicholas was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat at 13.

When he collapsed on the stairs at home, doctors first thought the sporty Thornton Grammar School pupil was suffering from an ear infection or epilepsy.

But Mrs Butters pushed for tests until heart specialists in Leeds discovered the extent of his condition and fitted a pacemaker within eight weeks.

Full-time mum Wendy, 37, who lives with husband Brendon and her seven children, today said Nicholas's life was saved only because he collapsed.

She said: "If he had not, we could have found him in bed dead. It's like a silent killer - you don't know what's happening.

"The only heart scan that Nicky had was when he was in the womb. When we took him to hospital after he collapsed, they didn't even do an ECG. If there had been some form of screening, it would have been picked up earlier."

Doctors fitted the pacemaker as they could not guarantee Nicholas would survive his next attack, she added.

Last week, the Telegraph & Argus revealed how Nicholas's 13-year-old cousin, Christopher Williams, was implanted with a hi-tech heart monitor which discovered that his heart stopped for up to three seconds at night.

Eight weeks ago, Nicholas's six-year-old sister Lauren was also fitted with the technology after she stopped breathing while on holiday in Cornwall.

Nicholas, now 15, still collapses every few months, is on medication and cannot return to the rugby and sports he loved before.

The condition was the result of a chest infection he had as a baby, which scarred his heart tissue, said Mrs Butters.

"It was just from a common cold," she said, "We know why this has happened to Nicky, but we don't know why it's happened to Lauren. I've had to insist that all my other children have scans."