{"id":261747,"date":"2026-05-07T08:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261747\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:51:13","slug":"new-florida-law-mandates-heart-screenings-for-student-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261747\/","title":{"rendered":"New Florida law mandates heart screenings for student-athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

Florida high school student-athletes will soon be required to undergo heart screenings under the newly enacted “Second Chance Act,” a measure designed to identify undiagnosed cardiac conditions before they lead to tragedy.<\/p>\n

The law was inspired by survivors like UCF student Riley Broadhurst and advocates like Martha Lopez-Anderson, who lost her son to sudden cardiac arrest after he appeared to be perfectly healthy.<\/p>\n

To help families meet this new requirement starting in July, the nonprofit “Who We Play For” is offering $20 electrocardiograms (EKGs) in partnership with Orlando Health to ensure every student has access to these life-saving tests.<\/p>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. – For UCF student Riley Broadhurst, life changed in the time it takes to “flip a light switch.”<\/p>\n

At age 17, the lifelong competitive athlete collapsed while on a routine run. He was suffering from sudden cardiac arrest\u2014the result of an undiagnosed heart condition he never knew he had.<\/p>\n

Broadhurst is part of a staggering statistic: one out of every 300 young people has an undiagnosed heart condition. However, unlike 90% of young people who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest, Broadhurst survived.<\/p>\n

“Three neighbors kept me alive until EMS arrived… they brought me back,” Broadhurst recalled.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Second Chance Act\u2019<\/p>\n

What we know<\/p>\n

Starting this July, Florida is taking a major step to ensure other students don’t become “grim statistics.”<\/p>\n

Under the newly passed “Second Chance Act<\/a>,” all new high school student-athletes in Florida must complete a successful heart screening before they are allowed to participate in sports tryouts, conditioning, or practice for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n

The push for this legislation was fueled by parents like Martha Lopez-Anderson, who lost her 10-year-old son, Sean, when he collapsed while rollerblading.<\/p>\n

“He appeared to be seemingly healthy,” Lopez-Anderson said. “I found out that there were ways to prevent it, such as an EKG… learning that was like losing him all over again.”<\/p>\n

How to get screened<\/p>\n

What you can do<\/p>\n

The screenings typically involve an electrocardiogram (EKG), a non-invasive test that records the electrical signal from the heart to check for different heart conditions.<\/p>\n

Cost-effective care<\/p>\n

The nonprofit group “Who We Play For” is partnering with Orlando Health this month to provide these mandatory heart screenings for just $20.<\/p>\n

Broadhurst said, “I guarantee you, if you live in Florida, you will find a heart screening in your area. And you should go”.<\/p>\n

By catching these “silent” conditions early, officials hope to provide more Florida students with the same second chance at life that Riley Broadhurst received.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information in this story was gathered from the Florida Senate Bill 1070 and reporting from FOX 35’s Matt Trezza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Florida high school student-athletes will soon be required to undergo heart screenings under the newly enacted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[113033,28,30,29,113029,113032,6031,113030,83825,113031,87161,113034],"class_list":["post-261747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-broadhurst","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-heart-condition","tag-martha-lopez-anderson","tag-orlando-health","tag-riley-broadhurst","tag-screenings","tag-second-chance-act","tag-sudden-cardiac-arrest","tag-ucf-student"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}