Sir David Frost’s son was not told that he was at risk from a rare genetic disorder inherited from his father before his unexpected death at the age of 31 last summer.
Miles Frost, who worked as a financial investor, collapsed while running in Oxfordshire, and the family have revealed that his death was caused by the congenital heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
David Frost died in 2013 aged 74 after suffering a heart attack on the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, and a postmortem revealed he had the condition. Miles and his surviving brothers were not told that there was a 50% chance they had inherited it.
Wilfred and George Frost wrote in the Sunday Times that their brother’s death came “totally and utterly out of the blue”, and the knowledge that he might have been able to live a normal life with proper treatment “adds to the agony relating to Miles’s death”.
The family have now launched a fund in Miles’s memory. The endowment, launched in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, aims to raise £1.5m to ensure that genetic testing for immediate family members of those affected by HCM is available nationwide.
About one in 500 people are born with the faulty gene that causes the condition, and each child of someone with HCM has a 50% chance of inheriting it, the British Heart Foundation said. HCM causes the muscle wall of the heart to become stiff, leading to heart failure. Most people who have HCM are undiagnosed and have no symptoms.
Wilfred Frost said: “Miles’s death will always be incomprehensible to us, but the circumstances surrounding it have made losing him even more difficult to bear.
“However, we are determined to look forward and plan to use his passing to create a positive legacy by improving diagnosis for HCM. If the Miles Frost Fund helps to prevent just one similar death occurring, then Miles will not have died in vain.”
Miles’s mother, Lady Carina Frost, said: “I will never forget the joy of handing Miles over to David. David was just totally besotted with Miles the moment he was born. He quite simply was born an old soul. And everybody was drawn to his wisdom, love, loyalty and laughter. After David died I just couldn’t have survived without Miles.”
George Frost, Miles’s youngest brother, said: “The hole left by Miles’s death can never be filled. But if we can help prevent other families experiencing something similar, it will be a great relief.”
Simon Gillespie, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: “I cannot praise highly enough the courage and vision of the Frost family in setting up this fund. The money raised by the Miles Frost Fund will help to establish a fully functional, UK-wide cascade testing service for parents, siblings and children who could be at risk.
“Working with the Frost family, our aim is to ensure people who have HCM are identified and treated to prevent a needless loss of life.”
For more details on the Miles Frost Fund, go to the website.