Preston Malone III, a junior varsity football player and sophomore at Lancaster Early College High School, passed away on Wednesday, August 20, following a “medical emergency” during practice two days earlier.
When Malone told a coach that he “was not feeling well” during Monday’s football practice, the coach noticed that the 15-year-old was not perspiring, according to a press conference held by school officials on August 20, ABC News reported.
After placing him in a cool tub, school officials took his temperature, which read to be 104 degrees. They then called paramedics.
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Paramedics arrived on the scene and took the teen’s temperature, which had dropped to 102 degrees, according to school officials.
Malone demonstrated “signs of improvement” and never lost consciousness, but school officials said paramedics took him from the cool tub to the ambulance for further testing before transferring him to a nearby hospital.
According to school officials, Malone’s coach and sports trainer informed his mother of the situation and followed the ambulance to the hospital.
After arriving at the hospital, Malone told his coach he was “sorry for not finishing his workout” and assured the athletic trainer that “he was going to be OK.”
“That was our last communication with our student,” school officials stated.
According to school officials, they were “hopeful for his recovery, but his condition changed overnight” before he died.
Athletic trainers did “an exceptional job” following heat “procedures and protocols,” school officials said.
“Our staff was immediate. They did what I would want anyone to do for if it was my child or any other child,” Kimberly Simpson, the chief of communications for Lancaster Independent School District, said during the press conference.
The school district called off all other football practices for the remainder of the week in response to Malone’s passing.
“I know his mom. I know she’s hurting right now because we’re hurting right now,” Marcus Badger, another coach, said.
According to ABC News, Lancaster Independent School District Superintendent A. Katrise Perera stated, “Our hearts are broken, and we extend our deepest condolences to the student’s family, friends, classmates, teammates, and teachers during this unimaginable time of loss.”
Malone’s cause of death has not been made public. School officials requested that the community “join us in keeping the family in their thoughts and prayers.”
“No one ever wants to be in this position. As a mother, I never want to call a family and share that their kid is not safe in our building [or] our facilities and something has happened to them,” Perera added during the press conference.
According to the school administration, coaches decided to keep football practice indoors on Monday due to the warm temperatures in Texas. Before Malone fell sick, the athletes were required to take five water breaks. The school’s indoor facility does not have an HVAC unit, it had four “large garage door areas” that were left open with many fans running.
