Headlines scream for something to be done: more money for research, screening of participants, more effective prevention, and better immediate treatment. Sudden death in sport is emotive and for this we cannot blame the media. They are searching for a story and their purpose is to sell papers. They write headlines while we encourage a measured response; they seek dramatic effect while we seek accuracy; they cry out for something to be done while we look for the evidence.

Charitable organisations, who do great work and contribute to research, are also businesses and their product is money. They must have donations to survive so they too need publicity. Their members are committed to a cause, sometimes through their own personal experience of tragedy, and they may …