An estimated 2000 young people under the age of 25 die each year of sudden cardiac arrest.

That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And now a Jersey lawmaker wants to combat the deadly condition through legislation.

Congressman Frank Pallone made the announcement today at Edison High School, where one of the school's football stars tragically died from sudden cardiac arrest.

Back in 2009 during track and field practice.

Ted Goldberg reports.

This hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is real.

It's a silent killer.

For families who lost children to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Their devastating stories have common themes.

We had given the team all of the physicals, everything that was required as a football player.

We had just had a physical two weeks before, and we were joking with the doctor that I never see John.

Ear aches, flu or whatever.

Unfortunately, regular physicals missed any sign of this deadly heart condition.

And then this year, the track team was running and suddenly, tragically, the team collapsed and died.

John was playing basketball with his friends at our parish in Chatham, New Jersey, when he collapsed.

And unfortunately, efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

The families of Kittim Sherrod and John Taylor Babbitt hope no one else has to suffer like they have.

So they're backing Congressman Frank Pallone and his bill that would require leaders and health groups to coordinate efforts to teach the public about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, apathy and ways to treat it and prevent it.

Had they done an EKG, there would have been some abnormal signs there.

There was an AED in the gym, but it was on top of the coat rack in a box And no one knew where that was.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate with the Centers for Disease Control, a national patient advocacy health professional organizations to develop educational materials and resources on cardiomyopathy for public awareness.

And this includes the symptoms, the risk assessment, training and lifesaving procedures, and implementing a cardiac emergency response plan.

In in the schools.

Pallone announced the bill at Edison High School, where Sherrod passed away in 2009.

The gym still has a mural honoring Sherrod's life.

What we're talking about today primarily impacts younger people and a lack of awareness about about this disease, if you will, a condition that we're discussing today.

And so if we can do more in those categories in terms of awareness, in terms of education, in response, we can prevent a lot of things from happening.

Pallone has been trying to pass bills like this for more than a decade and simply create awareness.

The hope is that more individuals would be diagnosed and treated before they fall victim to sudden cardiac arrest.

I think it's a great initiative that's going to save lives, and hoping one students life is saved.

I think every dollar behind it, every piece of effort is going to be worth it.

According to Pallone, this bill is pretty similar to previous versions of a bill that Pallone introduced into past Congress's but couldn't get enacted into law.

Pallone says the only difference is this time around are minor and technical.

And they're designed to help this bill get through a divided Congress.

In Edison, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.