HOUSTON – On the outside, high school athletes can look like superheroes -- absolutely indestructible.
But every year in this country dozens of teen athletes die from sudden cardiac arrest, caused by hidden heart defects that went by completely undetected in traditional high school sports exams.
That's why Aldine Independent School District, working in partnership with The Cody Stephens Go Big Or Go Home Foundation and The Cypress ECG Project, gave in-depth heart exams to more than 750 student-athletes on Tuesday.
The goal: to identify students with deadly, hidden heart defects, so they can get treatment.
Through the program, every student gets a thorough heart history test, an electrocardiogram test and a blood pressure Test.
Watching it all was Scott Stephens whose son, Cody, died two years ago from a hidden heart defect.
The tests are expensive, but thanks to The Cody Stephens Go Big Or Go Home Foundation, a $15,000 donation made all of this possible.
"Our goal is to make this type of testing mandatory at every high school in the state of Texas," Stephens said.