Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel is waging a one-man, all-out campaign to require heart testing for students before they can participate in high school athletics.

“This is just something we have to do,” Daniel said Wednesday. “We’ve had three young people die in the last few years.”

Daniel’s campaign was sparked by the Feb. 10 sudden death of a 14-year-old Chapel Hill High athlete, William Darrin Davis. The student had just finished track practice when he collapsed. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, and Davis was pronounced dead at the hospital emergency room.

A state autopsy showed Davis died from an inherited heart disorder which causes an enlarged heart and obstruction of blood flow to the heart muscle. This condition, known as hypertonic cardiomyopathy (HCM), is the leading cause of cardiac death in young athletes. It can be detected by an echocardiogram, a test which Daniel wants all teen athletes to take.

The Georgia High School Association requires an annual physical evaluation by a medical doctor for all student athletes. The four-page form includes numerous questions on family medical history and heart disease symptoms, but does not require a heart test.

Daniel said he has contacted local representatives to introduce state legislation requiring this test, but he feels it’s probably too late to get it on the agenda of the General Assembly which is now in session.

In the meantime, Daniel is going to ask the Douglas County Board of Education (BOE) to pass a local measure requiring the heart test.

“I’m on the agenda for the March 1 BOE meeting,” he said.

Daniel noted that a Suwanee, Georgia-based organization, Heart Screens for Teens, will bring its mobile testing unit to schools and offer the echocardiogram test for $58.

“We will come out to any school on a Saturday, at no cost to the school,” said Stephanie Naus, marketing representative of Heart Screens for Teens. “Our technician puts everything on video, writes all the heart measurements and it goes to our pediatric cardiologists. They read the tapes and make notes for follow-up. The reports come to me and are sent out to the parents, who can follow up with their family physicians.”

Naus said one person at the school, often a coach or teacher, serves as the contact person and signs up students for their appointments. She said each test takes about 10 to 15 minutes. She said a minimum of 20 students is required.

In the meantime, Daniel said he’s getting “tremendous support” from the public for his campaign.

He said Wednesday that if he can get the ruling passed to require the echocardiogram, he will personally make sure every student who needs the test can get one.

“I’ll raise money for kids who don’t have it,” he pledged. “I’m willing to hold fundraisers. I’ll get out there and sell candy, if that’s what it takes. I just want to make sure it’s required that they have a heart test before they can play.”