A devastated wife is fundraising for 'earlier testing' across Britain of the deadly hidden heart condition that is killing sport stars - after her 'gym-loving' new husband died at the wheel six months after they tied the knot.

Darren Brooks died 'unexpectedly' while driving his work van due to an underlying but potentially deadly heart condition he never knew he had called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HOCM).

Onlookers spotted the 41-year-old 'slumped' at the wheel on the M61 and he tragically died instantly at the scene on 15 November 2022.

The field engineer 'loved going to the gym' and lived an 'active' lifestyle so his wife Sarah Brooks says there was 'no reason to suspect' anything was wrong.

Sarah had been 'excited' to experience married life with him having got hitched just six months earlier, in March 2022.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy restricts the heart's capacity to pump blood around the body and is known to cause sudden cardiac death in athletes.

Many young sports stars have died from the condition, including former Manchester City footballer Marc-Vivien Foé, 28, in 2003, basketball player Hank Gathers, 23, in 1990 and basketball player Reggie Lewis, 27, in 1993.

It led former footballer Fabrice Muamba to suffer a cardiac arrest and collapse during Bolton's FA Cup match vs Tottenham Hotspur in March 2012.

Luckily he was resuscitated despite his heart stopping for 78 minutes and he now supports British Heart Foundation campaigns.

Sarah, 37, is now taking part in a charity skydive on Friday 2 August in Nottingham with the North West team at Utilita, where Darren worked for three years, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

The 37-year-old hopes that fundraising for more research and increased testing across the country will stop other families going through what she has if the condition can be caught earlier.

The theatre purchasing buyer, who lives in Oldham, Greater Manchester, said: "It was a very unexpected thing to happen to Darren. It shouldn't have happened. It was very unfair.

"It's very sad but this is why it's important to raise money so things like that can be diagnosed earlier.

"It was just horrible. We'd just started married life and were excited to start a family and excited to do everything.

"You just never envision losing your husband that early in life ever. We were planning on having a family. We were just in love.

"The day started as normal. I always rang him when I was on my lunch hour. The police answered his phone and questioned where I was and needed to see me that morning.

"He was on the motorway heading to his first job in the morning. Unfortunately he suffered a medical episode, which now we know was caused by a disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

"He passed away at the wheel. Luckily he didn't injure anyone else. It was members of the public who noticed Darren slumped on the wheel. He went into the central reservation of the motorway.

"All the emergency services were called. They tried to revive him for over 30 minutes on the motorway but unfortunately he was pronounced dead at the scene.

"They thought he had a heart attack because they didn't know the route of the course. It took us six to eight weeks to finally find out the cause of his death."

The 37-year-old revealed her husband's active lifestyle led doctors to dismiss his 'large heart', which is a symptom of HOCM.

Sarah said: "He had no symptoms or reason to suspect something was wrong. He went to the gym everyday. He loved going to the gym and kept himself active. He was never someone that would sit around. He ate healthily.

"He was told he had a large heart but because he'd liked going to the gym they said that was normal with his frame.

"But that's one of the symptoms of HOCM that can cause an enlarged heart. It basically shuts down the walls. The muscles of the walls thicken and if untreated it can cause sudden death."

The wife revealed her late husband 'always wanted' to do a skydive and hopes he now can as she has two tattoos on her arms with Darren's ashes in.

By supporting the British Heart Foundation, the wife hopes to prevent anyone else from experiencing the 'hell' she has been through after his death.

Sarah said: "Utilita were shell-shocked the day he died. He's left a giant Darren-shaped hole in the North West Utilita team. We wanted to do something in his memory to raise awareness.

"He'd always wanted to do a skydive. I thought what better way to honour him than jump out of a plane.

"I'm excited because I've actually got two tattoos with Darren's ashes in. I feel like I'm fulfilling one of his wishes that he wanted to do for him.

"He'd be laughing his head off at me. He knows it's something I'd never ever do. If I can't do it for my husband then I can't do it for anyone.

"I just want to make someone think if they have a symptom or anything to go and get themselves checked out.

"If I can stop one family going through the hell that I've gone through then that's all I want.

"There's a lot of people that do have underlying conditions they don't know about. You just never know what's around the corner. I would never wish what happened to me on anyone, to go through the loss of a husband at such a young age.

"If I can just save one person and if something positive can come out of something so negative it makes life a little bit easier."

A GoFundMe page, which has currently raised £2,810, was set up by 18-year-old Hannah Hughes, whose dad also works for Utilita and who had surgery for a congenital heart condition at just four years old.

Hannah said: "I also had heart surgery when I was four. Without that, I wouldn't be here today. Being able to put money into their research and congenital heart research is very important to me and my dad.

"It was life-changing for me. It makes me less nervous to do the jump. It's for such an important cause that it's bigger than me."

You can donate to the GoFundMe here - https://www.gofundme.com/f/brooks-500