Osten Gill
On October 15, 2003, five days later, Osten, a 16-year old high school sophomore from Rushford, New York, collapsed on a bus returning from a football game. He had complained of dizziness and nausea after being hit during the game and had been vomiting on the sidelines and on the bus. Osten died at a hospital several hours later. Although the cause of death has not been reported, his symptoms were consistent with head trauma.
Craig Boatwright
The next day, October 16, 2003, tragedy struck the Everman (Tex) High School football team. Less than a year after another player, Corey Fulbright, was paralyzed from the neck down after making a tackle in the Class 3A, Division 1 state championship game, 17-year old senior Craig Boatwright collapsed on the school track as he was nearing the end of a two-mile run to work off a punishment for a team infraction. An assistant coach and trainer performed CPR before Craig was transported by ambulance to nearby Huguley Memorial Medical Center, where he pronounced dead less than an hour later from a previously undetected congenital heart condition. A 6 foot-4, 215-pound defensive end on Everman's two-time defending state championship team, Craig was looking forward to playing for the Texas Christian University "Horned Frogs" after graduation. Well-liked on and off the field (he was a candidate for homecoming king the day after he died), Craig was also a standout shot put and discus thrower. At a memorial service in the school's packed gymnasium, coaches and players remembered Craig for his character (he donated his 2002 championship ring for an auction benefiting Fulbright) and his heart. "Even though they're telling us his heart was injured, those of us who knew him know he had a huge heart," said coach Erik McGuffin. "He had a heart made of gold."
Nicolette Bailey
A day later, on October 17, 2003, Nicolette, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Topeka, Kansas, collapsed and died during a youth basketball game. No details of her death have been reported, but an undetected congenital heart condition resulting in SCA seems the likely cause.
Michael Grimm
The next day, October 18, 2003, Michael, a 5-year-old kindergartner from Lake Oswego, Oregon, collapsed while playing soccer at a park while his father, the team's assistant coach, helped out on a neighboring field. Michael died almost instantly. Preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive, but an undetected heart condition resulting in SCA seems the likely cause. The redheaded boy was described as introspective, loveable, playful and energetic.
Robert Martin
The next day, October 19, 2003, tragedy struck a youth athlete for the fifth time in as many days. Robert "Big Rob" Martin, a 17-year old high school junior from the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown, Pennsylvania, collapsed after playing a game of two-on-two basketball in a neighborhood park and was pronounced dead a short time later at Montgomery Hospital. Like Merridy Stilwell, Rob died from cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that led to an enlarged heart. The coroner told The Philadelphia Inquirer that it "set him up for sudden cardiac death." A good-natured, talented player described by a former coach as the best he had ever coached, Rob planned to go to college and was preparing to take the SAT. "He was one of the ones that did not drink, didn't sell drugs," a family friend told The Inquirer, a point echoed by Rob's minister, who reminded an overflow crowd of mourners at Siloam Baptist Church that, when Rob died, "there was no alcohol on his breath, no drugs in his system, no gun in his hand, and nothing stolen in his pocket." Willie Richet, deputy chief of the Norristown Police Department, had watched Rob play basketball in the Police Athletic League. "If you ever wanted to find an example of a good kid, this was it," Richet said.
Patrick Geelan
On Saturday, October 18, Patrick, a 16-year old high school junior from Byron, Wisconsin, collapsed with just 15 seconds remaining in a football game after suffering a stroke, apparently the result of an injury to an artery in his neck which caused a blood clot. He was airlifted from St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac to Children's Hospital in Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where, after suffering several more strokes, he was taken off life support and died on October 21, 2003. At 6 foot 3 inches and 280 pounds, Geelan hoped to play one day for the University of Wisconsin "Badgers". He was remembered as a warm, friendly, polite, cheerful, hard-working kid with a "one-of-a-kind personality" and his death sent shock waves through his small farming community. Geelan "was one of the guys who you knew by the first name," said his high school football coach. "When you said 'Pat,' everyone knows who you're talking about. It's unfortunate that Pat was taken away from his family and friends. It's the saddest thing I've ever been a part of."
James Van Slette
Five days later, on October 29, 2003, 14-year old James, a middle linebacker and fullback on the freshman football team at Eisenhower High School in Alsip, Illinois, woke up in the middle of the night, feverish and vomiting. His mother, believing he had the flu, gave him a pain reliever and sent him back to bed. Hours later, Jimmy was found dead, the third youth sports athlete from the Chicago suburbs to die in less than a month. While preliminary autopsy results were inconclusive, Jimmy had suffered at least four concussions in the previous five years, three playing football and one in a May 2003 auto accident. After passing a physical and being given a new special protective football helmet, he was allowed to play, overcoming his parents' concerns. Jimmy had confided to friends - but not to his family or coaches - that he was having severe headaches and might have suffered a fifth concussion in the team's season finale three days before he died. Besides football, James also played baseball and basketball, ran track and planned to join the school's wrestling team.
