Max's Foundation is a remarkable testament to the story of Max Schiller, a young boy who deeply touched the hearts of many. In 2014, the Schiller family noticed changes in their son's health, such as fatigue and difficulty with physical activities. 

They were referred to Great Ormond Street Hospital for an initial round of appointments and tests in late 2014, with further appointments due in early 2015.

Despite some improvement during the Christmas season, tragedy struck on January 8, 2015, when Max sadly passed away unexpectedly in his sleep, at the young age of 10.

The family later discovered that Max had an undetected genetic heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), characterised by the thickening of the heart muscle wall. This condition often remains asymptomatic and is challenging to detect, especially in children. In Max's memory and with the support of loved ones, the family established Max's Foundation in 2016 as a lasting legacy, aiming to raise awareness and support for research into this devastating condition.

Max's Foundation was established by Max's family, Dave, Shira and Molly Schiller, to support research aimed at improving the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of genetic heart conditions in children. The mission is to help families impacted by these conditions and provide assistance to them.

Since 2017, Max’s Foundation has partnered with the Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to fund the role of Research Nurse as well as the provision of life-saving monitoring equipment. Headed by Dr Juan Pablo Kaski, a consultant paediatric cardiologist, the centre is the largest in the UK dedicated to the evaluation and management of the full range of inherited cardiac conditions in children. The role of the Research Nurse is to introduce patients to ground-breaking trials and analyse data from studies aiming to find new and better ways to detect rare heart conditions particularly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Earlier last year, the Centre announced the development of the first-ever tool to identify children at risk of sudden death from cardiomyopathy. Max’s Foundation was credited in the press release and in subsequent articles as a contributing organisation. This research project is progressing phenomenally well and due to the enormous amount of work and data, they are now co-funding a research assistant.

Their aim is to continue to fund this incredible project. It is beginning to yield exciting results and there are upcoming plans for Ella and her assistant to continue their research into inherited heart conditions in young children. Without the funding provided by Max’s Foundation, this project would struggle to continue in its current form.

If you would like to know more about the research project, have a look at the charity’s latest video here:

Crawfords have been supporters of Max's Foundation for many years. It is a charity extremely close to our hearts and we are dedicated to supporting Max's Foundation every way we can.  

On October 28^th 2023, Max's Foundation are taking part in the Ultra Challenge 10K Halloween charity walk. If you are interested in joining the Max’s Monsters team for this walk, please feel free to reach out to Sally@maxsfoundation.org.uk or by sending a direct message on their Instagram, @maxsfoundation. 

There are also other fantastic fundraising events throughout the year to help raise awareness. You can find all updates on www.maxsfoundation.org.uk.

All help and support is appreciated ❤️