MARK and Emma Bennett remember the day nearly two years ago with painful clarity. Their lovely, lively son Toby was playing five-a-side football after school and his mum was due to pick him up at Poole Sports Centre.

"I got there early because he wanted me to watch the last bit," she recalled. "He was on the floor with all the paramedics around him."

Mark said: "They rang up and said: 'Your son has passed out, could you come to hospital?'."

Eight-year-old Toby had collapsed during the match and never woke up, despite the heroic efforts made by ambulance staff, doctors and nurses to resuscitate him.

"They were phenomenal," said Emma. "It was nine o'clock when they officially declared him dead. We were in there holding his hand. Although the situation ended so sadly, it wasn't for want of trying. They couldn't have done any more.

"If someone had told me that was the way we were going to lose our child, we would never in a million years have believed them. We just didn't see it coming.

"He was fit as a fiddle: absolutely loved his sport. He'd had a very normal day even until the last couple of minutes. Toby has passed the ball to another boy, who had scored, and they were running back celebrating.

"He wouldn't have known anything about it; it was like switching off a light, but you don't get the chance to say goodbye."

After his death, it was discovered that Toby had a previously undiagnosed heart condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

The problem does not normally show itself until the teens or early twenties and is believed to be caused by a genetic fault. Cells in the heart muscle becoming damaged and lost, and fibrous, fatty tissue builds up.

ARVC causes a disturbance of normal heart rhythm, especially during strenuous exercise, and is more common among athletes. Current estimates are that it affects between one in 3,000 and one in 10,000 people.

Toby had "fainted" twice before, the first time during a family skiing holiday in Switzerland when he was six. "He was having a snowball fight and we thought he had slipped over and hit his head," said Mark.

Toby underwent hospital tests, but nothing was found. After a second collapse the following year at an indoor Cricket centre, doctors thought he had epilepsy.

For Toby, life continued much as before. Like his father and big brother Jamie, who have both represented Dorset at cricket, he loved the game. Poole Town Cricket Club had named him its under-10 player of the year.

He played football, was a Manchester United supporter, and just before he died, had announced he wanted to take up Taekwondo. "He was totally full of life and energy," said Emma.

After Toby's death, 400 mourners attended his funeral service. "He made a big impact. We've had immense support from the community and our family and friends have been wonderful," said Emma.

Because Toby's condition was genetic, Jamie has to be checked regularly at the Wessex Cardiac Centre in Southampton, but has shown no sign of disease.

A memorial cricket match planned for Toby turned into a major fund-raising event. The first Toby's Day last year raised £10,000 for Wessex Heartbeat, the charity that supports the work of the Wessex Cardiac Centre.

"This year we got more involved," said Emma. "Jamie is our rock: he has carried on with life with such enthusiasm and he's very much part of Toby's Day. He wanted to do it for his brother's sake."

This year's event in Poole Park raised around £13,000, this time to be split between Wessex Heartbeat and a new cricket academy launched in Toby's name.

First published: Oct 16