January 19, 2008–SEATTLE, WA–Around the country at least once a week, a young athlete collapses and dies of undetected heart troubles.

The shocking numbers prompted Seattle's Blanchett High School to screen area students before tragedy strikes.

Volunteers want to catch the ticking time bomb before it goes off.

Tenth grader Mark Vinopal was one student being tested. He needs a healthy heart to compete.

“I’m a swimmer and I need that to go the distance,” he said.

The volunteers are checking for signs that may not be so obvious.

Sixteen-year-old Nick Varrenti appeared healthy on the outside. But the junior varsity football playerhad an illness that couldn't be seen.

“My dad went to wake him up and he didn't wake up,” said Katie Varrenti, his sister.

Nick suffered sudden cardiac arrest. His sister knows what it means to have a broken heart.

"My heart aches for him everyday and I miss him," she said.

People listened after University of Washington basketball player Kayla Burt survived her collapse on the court.

And the volunteers at Blanchett are hoping to save lives, screening young athletes for heart abnormalities, conducting free EKGs and ultrasounds. These are normally pricey procedures that can detect problems that a routine physical can't.

Sharon Bates’ son had two dozen physicals for his sports team.

“He was a 300-pound athlete with a heart of gold,” she said.

But that heart gave out and killed him.

“I had no idea he had heart disease. My son had no symptoms and didn't complain of anything,” Bates said.

The volunteers want more thorough physicals for athletes as well as defibrillators in every school.

“I don't want other families to go through what we went through and what we're going through,” Karen Varrenti said.

More than 200 students signed up for cardiac screening. And one teenager learned that she had a collapsed valve, which means the event just may have saved her life.

-KOMOTV.com