"Healthy Heart Check" Screens Students For Potential Health Problems

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WWJ) - It's a screening event designed to catch potentially deadly heart problems in young Metro Detroiters. It's called the Healthy Heart Check program, and WWJ's Sean Lee spoke with its benefactor Max Ernst.

Ernst told Lee he's never met the thousands of students whose lives he's changed, but that's not what matters to him.

"I can't even put it in words," Ernst said. "If I saved one life, it's all worth it."

And thanks to Ernst's generosity, almost 10,000 high school students have been screened to check their risk for sudden cardiac arrest and other life-threatening heart problems. An estimated 2,000 people under age 25 die of the condition every year, but some experts think the risk is up to three times greater in competitive athletes.

"Every time I read one of these things, it's just tragic because they're lives that could be saved," Ernst went on to say.

That's why Ernst and his family support the Beaumont Student Healthy Heart Check program, a free screening event for kids ages 13 to 18.

"When I know these kids are healthy, that's enough for me."

The Student Heart Check program happens on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Oxford High School, and spaces are filling up fast. To register your student, click here.