SAN DIEGO -- One year after finding their teenage son collapsed on the kitchen floor due to an undetected heart problem, an East County family is creating change so other parents won't suffer the pain of losing a child.

Hector Paredes stares at the last picture taken of his family together outside a restaurant in May 2009.

"We had someone take a picture of us after finishing the meal," he said.

Two months later on July 23, Hector found his 15-year-old son, Eric, dead on the kitchen floor. Doctors said Eric suffered a cardiac arrest.

"Sometimes the only symptom is death and that is what happened to our son," said mother Rhina Paredes.

Eric was a picture of health, and he was on the Steele Caynon High School football and wrestling teams. Nobody saw Eric's death coming, and expert said it's the same story for thousands of parents every year.

A heart rhythm problem can be detected in an EKG, but that is not covered by insurance for children and young adults.

"No EKG is given to a child unless it is outwardly symptomatic," said Hector Paredes.

He said one of the reasons it isn't covered is because sudden cardiac arrest isn't always indicated on death certificates, so many cases go unreported.

"By having a box that says sudden cardiac arrest and a parameter of age group, 12 to 20, we can take those numbers now and say no it's not eight, for example, but 20," said Hector Paredes.

Until they have the ammunition to take on the insurance companies, the Paredes family's effort will start with free EKG screenings at schools.

Saturday will be the first screenings event at Steele Canyon for all its students.

"This past year has been really unimaginable. Nobody should have to go through what my family and I have gone through," said sister Jessica Paredes.

For more information on the Paredes family's effort, visit ericparedessavealife.org.