THE family of James Nicholas, who died suddenly shortly before his 22nd birthday, have shared a touching message on what would have been his 30th birthday.

The James Nicholas Foundation was set up after the former De La Salle and Carmel College student suddenly passed away in October 2012 due to an undiagnosed heart condition.

James, who was from Dentons Green and known as 'Ron' to his friends, left behind parents Kevin and Lesley and younger sisters Courtney and Caitlin.

The family started the charity and set up local heart screenings in the St Helens area since 2014.

There have been regular events held at Saints' stadium over the past several years.

On Sunday (October 22) the James Nicholas Foundation published a moving message on its social media pages.

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It said: "Today we should be celebrating James’ 30th Birthday with him, we often talk about what James would have been doing now, would he be married & have children, so many things he should be doing & so many memories we should be making with him.

"Normally on this date we would be releasing the booking page for our annual screening at Saints Rugby stadium however due to the current circumstances with Covid this has been postponed until it is safe to do so."

St Helens Star:

"We would however like to share with you what we have been able to raise since starting on this fundraising journey, we have 2 accounts - the James Michael Nicholas Memorial’ account with CRY & ‘The James Nicholas foundation’ charity account where we put the initial funds we raise then transfer over to the memorial account to pay for the screenings, these figures do not include the gift aid elements as CRY are unable to allocate this to the individual accounts this goes to CRY’s core funding for research, counselling, support & screenings for families going through a loss like ours, we have a further amount of around £1500 due into the account soon.

"We would like to thank everyone who has give their support, help & donations to make this possible & your continuous support ❤️

"We would love you to share any memories you may have of James for his birthday."

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Today we should be celebrating James’ 30th Birthday with him💔we often talk about what James would have been doing now, would he be married & have children, so many things he should be doing & so many memories we should be making with him 💔 Normally on this date we would be releasing the booking page for our annual screening at Saints Rugby stadium however due to the current circumstances with Covid this has been postponed until it is safe to do so❤️ We would however like to share with you what we have been able to raise since starting on this fundraising journey, we have 2 accounts - the James Michael Nicholas Memorial’ account with CRY & ‘The James Nicholas foundation’ charity account where we put the initial funds we raise then transfer over to the memorial account to pay for the screenings , these figures do not include the gift aid elements as CRY are unable to allocate this to the individual accounts this goes to CRY’s core funding for research, counselling, support & screenings for families going through a loss like ours, we have a further amount of around £1500 due into the account soon❤️ We would like to thank everyone who has give their support, help & donations to make this possible & your continuous support ❤️ We would love you to share any memories you may have of James for his birthday ❤️