Mum's campaign trumpeted in the House of Commons (From News Shopper)

An Orpington mum's campaign to raise awareness of a sleep disorder has been trumpeted in the House of Commons

9:49am Saturday 17th September 2011 in Top Stories By David Mills

A MUM’S campaign to raise awareness of a sleep disorder has been trumpeted in the House of Commons.

Carole Upcraft’s son Daniel, 32, was left brain damaged and his fiancée Nicola, 33, was killed following a car crash where the driver at fault had undiagnosed sleep apnoea.

They had been queuing for the Dartford tunnel on the M25 when their car was hit by a lorry in April last year.

The case against lorry driver David Thomas from Upminster, was dropped when it emerged he had sleep apnoea, which causes daytime sleepiness and fatigue.

Following questions in Parliament from Orpington MP Jo Johnson, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for transport Michael Penning welcomed the opportunity to meet Mrs Upcraft to support her campaign.

Mr Penning said: “It would be a pleasure to meet the family, and I praise the work they are doing.

“This tragic loss was the result of a medical condition that is very difficult to diagnose, and we need to do a lot of work prior to diagnosis so that people are not driving with this terrible illness.”

Mrs Upcraft, aged 55, of Knoll Rise, Orpington, said she would raise the issue of fast tracking the diagnosis of sleep disorders with the minister.

The mum-of-three said: “Traditionally it’s a very long process and can take a year from when you go to your GP.

“I want to see changes and make sure another family doesn’t have to go through what we did. I want people to be aware of this and get the diagnosis earlier.”

Mr Penning also revealed specific accident figures related to sleep apnoea were not available as these were grouped under accidents caused by fatigue.

Mrs Upcraft said: “Fatigue can be all sorts of things. You may have a one off bad night’s sleep. I don’t want everything to be locked together because this is a very specific medical condition and it should not be confused with other reasons why someone might be fatigued.”

Support the campaign by singing the petition at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/5851