A heartbroken mum from Ivybridge plans to conquer her fear of heights by skydiving 10,000ft in honour of her son who died suddenly at work.

Julie Greenslade, 53, will jump out of an aeroplane to commemorate the first anniversary of her son’s death.

Jamie Phillip, a motorway maintenance worker, was just 27 years old when he slumped forward and lost consciousness while sitting behind the wheel of his van on a night shift on January 30 this year.

Colleagues he had earlier transported to work were unable to revive him.

A post-mortem examination revealed a rare coronary disease named arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy which caused his sudden death.

His devastated family have received support from Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), a charity which researches and raises awareness of sudden cardiac death.

Every week in the UK at least 12 young people die of undiagnosed heart conditions, the charity said.

Julie, a grandmother-of-five, worked in a management role overseeing 52 workers but quit due to the stress of Jamie’s tragic death.

But she is determined to make the first anniversary a positive and rewarding experience – one that would make her son proud.

She is planning a tandem skydive at Dunkeswell Airfield, with daughter, Nikki Login, 25, who lives in Kingsbridge, and sister Tanya Priddis, 48.

The brave trio set a combined fundraising target of £1,200 – and Julie has already raised over £500.

All of the money will go to CRY.

Julie, a mother-of-three, said: “My son went to work on January 30 and never came back.

“He was driving a van, pulled over and sadly passed away. There was no warning about his condition – we had no idea.

“Jamie was working the night shift and it sounds strange but that night I went to bed and had pains in my chest.

“It was so painful that I was quite concerned and googled ‘heart attack symptoms’.

“It started to wear off and then I got the call to say he had passed away.

“I know it sounds really strange but I believe I felt him passing away.”

Jamie was a football fanatic who enjoyed watching matches all over Europe.

He supported Stockport County FC who paid a special tribute during their match with Telford Utd on February 16 by stopping play in the 27th minute.

The crowd chanted his name while clapping and cheering.

Julie added: “Jamie was cheeky, always taking the mickey, but would help anybody.

“He’s probably laughing his head off right now because I don’t like flights or heights – but we have to put ourselves out of our comfort zone.

“The fundraiser has really helped us focus because we decided to do something positive for the anniversary.

“Jamie was really loyal, the kind of person who would do anything for you, so we wanted to raise money for CRY to help others in a similar situation.

“CRY would like to screen young people for the condition so we could save a lot of mums going through this.

“We as a family are now having to be tested to see if we have the gene. You don’t think about your child going before you. This helps to make people aware that this disease does not just affect the old.”

If you would like to donate to Julie’s fundraising effort go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JulieGreenslade1.