MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – An unimaginable tragedy turned into an unexpected opportunity for one Memphis dad. He lost his son to an undiagnosed genetic heart condition more than a decade ago. Now, he’s pushing for statewide change to help save other young lives.

“All I remember is how happy this kid was, how good of a kid he was,” Dennis Price Sr. told Action News 5 about his son Dennis Price Jr., “I’ve never heard anybody say anything bad about DJ.”

Listening to Price talk about DJ, you hear a father’s undeniable pride in his progeny. He described the day he found out DJ, a star basketball player at Ridgeway High School, helped a classmate in need.

“He bought his lunch without anybody knowing. Bought his lunch. And that young man told me the next thing he knew, DJ brought him shoes. And he brought him some pants. DJ never told me or his mom that he did this. And I’m sitting here,” Price paused, hanging his head down, pushing back tears, “that was my son. That was my son.”

The young man with a heart of gold also had an undiagnosed heart condition. DJ passed away in his sleep at the age of 16.

“The day that DJ passed,” said Price, “is the day that I was saved.”

Dennis Price Sr. is now on a mission to educate parents about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick, making it harder for the heart to pump blood. Most people have no symptoms and experience no significant problems.

The Mayo Clinic says HCM is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people.

“I need to save kids’ lives!” Price told Action News 5.

Price founded a non-profit in DJ’s memory: The Dennis Price Junior Foundation. In March, he headed to Capitol Hill in Nashville to share his story with lawmakers.

“I was driving an 18-wheeler with two trailers on a two-lane highway when his mom called me to tell me that my son,” said a sobbing Price, “that my son had passed.”

Price, his brother Reginald Shaw and best friend Roderick Cross, testified before a House education subcommittee that the family had no idea DJ had a heart ailment. Each man wore a green tie with his suit, because green was DJ’s favorite color.

The Foundation’s goal is simple, they said, to improve the physical exams given to student athletes.

“Those physicals were essentially a joke, right?” said Cross, “All you do is you go in… you cough, turn your head to the left, turn your head to the right. They check your eyes, ears, nose, and they send you on your way.”

State Representative G.A. Hardaway of Memphis sponsored House Bill 1113, legislation designed to support a student athlete’s emotional, psychological and physical well-being, and that includes a more comprehensive exam that can spot heart conditions like the one DJ had.

“You know, I’ve brought hundreds of bills, literally,” Rep. Hardaway told his colleagues on the committee, “and this is one that I feel the most. I thank you all for understanding and moving this legislation on.”

Price and the foundation already follow DJ’s lead in the community, opening a “DJ’s Care Closet” at Westwood High, Ridgeway Middle and Geeter Middle.

The closets provide students in need – anonymously – with the tools required to succeed: clothing, shoes, toiletries and school supplies.

Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority board member and former Memphis City Councilman Jack Sammons said his company contributes hair care products to DJ’s closets.

“I had heart surgery myself,” Sammons told Action News 5, “a minor little stent put in my heart. But it got my attention when I heard about the Dennis Price Jr. Foundation, and I said, let’s try to help. They’re doing great things, and I’m proud they’re continuing that.”

Just as others rallied around DJ’s Care Closet, Price is determined to convince legislators and educators that every child deserves to have the healthy heart of a champion.

“The whole goal is to save lives,” said Price, “That was always the goal, not to have any parent go through what I’m sitting here going through. This is not something I want to do. This is something I have to do.”

Rep. Hardaway returns to the state legislature in January to try and push his bill across the finish line.

Meantime, Price and his foundation connected with a cardiologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital to try and re-imagine what these new physicals will entail. If all goes well, Price said he’d like to see a pilot program in at least one Memphis Shelby County School in the near future.