'Be More Ruby': Dale Lockwood's campaign to highlight sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in honour of West Yorkshire Police detective wife
Be More Ruby is a concept which is never too far from the mind of Dale Lockwood. It was the plea he made during the eulogy to his late wife, who died unexpectedly in 2023.
The Birstall dad lost Ruby, a 31-year-old detective with West Yorkshire Police, to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS). She died in her sleep with no warning, leaving behind Dale and their two young children.
Since Ruby’s death, Dale has been dedicated to spreading awareness of SADs, while also raising money for charity by taking part in running events. And in recent months, he has backed the British Heart Foundation’s myth-busting campaign about heart health.
Dale says: “To live through the moment when your entire life and everything you’ve built just disappears in front of your eyes, there are no words. Ruby was such a unique character – she was so vivacious and full of life. She was the kindest, most selfless person in the world, who would go above and beyond for anyone. There was nothing that made Ruby happier than our children and being a mum.
“My closing statement at her eulogy was ‘Be More Ruby’ - because the world would be a much brighter place if everyone was a little more like her. ‘Be More Ruby’ has also become the strapline of my fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. We had no idea anything like this could happen to someone like Ruby. We were just a normal family with our whole lives ahead of us when I walked out to work that day."
The BHF campaign which Dale supported shared research exposing the scale of cardiovascular disease in the UK and some widespread misconceptions. The organisation reported in September that someone in the UK dies from cardiovascular disease every three minutes and that nearly half (42 per cent) of Brits believed heart disease symptoms appear suddenly, as depicted in films or TV.
One in five, they said, wrongly think that only over-60s are at risk – despite rising deaths in working-age adults from as young as 24.
As Dale says, “this isn't something that just affects you in later life – it's something that's killing people well before life has started”.
Some 42 per cent of Brits have never discussed heart health with a professional, with women less likely to do so than men, reported the charity.
By 2035, BHF wants the UK to prevent 125,000 heart attacks and strokes and reduce early deaths from cardiovascular disease by 25 per cent.
Dale and Ruby met aged 17 while working at Batley’s Irish Democratic League Club, where they spent a good deal of time “playing pranks on each other and just being teenagers”, bonding over their shared sense of humour.
In 2019, they married at St Mary's Catholic Church in Batley before their first child, Arthur, was born in May 2020, followed by Winifred in September 2022.
There were no signs, in Ruby’s case, that anything would affect her health.
"She had been through, obviously, two pregnancies fairly unscathed, really – had given birth twice, just finished her maternity leave and gone back to work,” says Dale, who is a deputy headteacher. “You can have symptoms, things like shortness of breath, palpitations, irregular heartbeat and things, but no, (there was) absolutely nothing.”
In her work life, Ruby had spent years in safeguarding for the police before moving to the CID.
His wife was, he says, “one of those people everyone just likes and everyone wants to be their friend. She just had that aura, really.”
The £5,000 raised from Ruby’s funeral went to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity. Since then, through the Great North Run and Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge in 2024, and London Marathon earlier this year, Dale and friends have raised around £20,000 for the British Heart Foundation. In addition, Dale has set up a special Be More Ruby fund with the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, so far raising more than £18,000.
Along with his children, exercise challenges help Dale to stay positive – he took part in the the Peak Divide ONEr 76km ultra marathon from Sheffield to Manchester last month – and also to keep his wife’s name in people’s thoughts.
Dale said: “It's too late for Ruby and our family, but it might not be for someone else. If by sharing our story we make a difference to just one family, then it makes Ruby's death mean something.”
For more information about SADS, visit www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/sads