Boy, 14, Collapses, Dies at Football Practice

High school freshman's cause of death is not yet known
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 22, 2017 5:59 PM CDT
Boy, 14, Collapses, Dies at Football Practice
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / mphillips007)

A 14-year-old boy collapsed during a football practice held on a hot, humid Tuesday morning at a private high school in New York City and later died, police and school officials said. Dominick Bess was headed into his freshman year at Mount Saint Michaels Academy, a Catholic, all-boys prep school in the northern part of the Bronx. Emergency crews got a call around 9:30am saying he had apparently gone into cardiac arrest, fire officials said. Dominick was treated on campus and then taken to a hospital, where he died, the AP reports. The cause of his death is unknown, the school said.

A heat advisory was issued for the city but didn't go into effect until noon. Temperatures reached into the high 80s, but with humidity it felt much hotter. Mayor Bill de Blasio later tweeted: "Our hearts break for this young man's family. We should prohibit sports practices during heat waves." Mount Saint Michaels said in a statement that its "heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, as well as coaches, the team and our student-athletes." At least four other high-school-age boys around the country have died during practices in the past two months, including one who was struck in the head by a log during a drill. (More accidental death stories.)

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