The bereaved family of an England squash player who died suddenly on his 22nd birthday continue to raise awareness of the condition that killed him two years after his death.

Aspiring barrister Neil Desai, from New Malden, died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) while on holiday with his girlfriend in Malaga on September 5, 2008.

The former Tiffin School and Coombe Hill Infants pupil, who was described as friendly, charming and enthusiastic, was studying law at Nottingham University after gaining straight A grade GCSEs and A-levels.

The high-flying student was also a passionate sportsman and had been voted sports personality of the year by his peers and was a talented cricketer and national squash player, ranked 269th in the world.

His death caused immense shock and sadness for all his friends and family but they have pulled together and set up a foundation in his name to raise awareness and funds for the cause.

The Neil Desai foundation supports charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and is campaigning for all sportsmen and women to be tested for heart problems to prevent other young people suffering the same fate as Neil.

Neil’s mum, Urmi Desai, said the foundation, whose trustees include two of Neil’s closest friends and his 28-year-old brother Samir, has raised nearly £50,000 to date through fundraisers.

Mrs Desai said: “It’s amazing what the young people are doing out there.

“It gives you a purpose to carry on. At least you feel like someone somewhere is benefiting from it. You never fully recover from it but you find ways of dealing with it.”

The foundation funded heart screenings, which cost £3,500 a day, at Tiffin Boys School, where Neil was a pupil, on October 18 and 19 this year.

Mrs Desai said the screenings are vital as without them the condition, which is aggravated by exercise, can go completely unnoticed.

She said: "It’s like a little time bomb sitting there. The more awareness you raise the more people get screened and even if this saves only two lives, it is worth it."

Mrs Desai said the ultimate aim is to make screening the norm for all sports people and to continue to raise awareness of the condition, kills 12 young people every week in the UK, according to CRY.

She said: "Neil used to receive a huge amount of rackets, shoes, worth a huge amount of money from sponsors; I just wish some of that was spent on screening."