18-Year-Old High School Football Player Passes Away After Collapsing During Game

A high school football player from the Florida panhandle passed away after collapsing on the field during a game Friday night.

Chance Gainer, 18, a wide receiver and defensive back for Port St. Joe High School, collapsed during the contest against Liberty County High School.

WJHG reports:

Chance was tended to on the field, and we’re told by Gulf County School Superintendent Jim Norton that he did not have a pulse when EMTs first got to him. Mr. Norton says they were able to get a pulse before putting Gainer in an ambulance. He was then rushed to a hospital in Blountstown. It was there Norton says that Gainer passed away.

Mr. Norton went on to tell us everyone associated with Port St. Joe High School, and the Tiger Sharks football program are absolutely crushed by Gainer’s passing. Norton says Chance, as an athlete “Had world-class speed, but more importantly had a world class personality.” Norton goes on to say Gainer, who had a better than 4.0 grade point average, had recently visited Vanderbilt University, to discuss the possibility of attending college there.

The Superintendent says he is already in the process of lining up grief counselors to come into the school to help the football players and all the students, teachers, and staff at Port St. Joe High School deal with this incredibly sad situation.

WATCH:

Football star Chance Gainer has died suddenly from a heart attack during Friday’s game.

The 18 year-old collapsed on the field and had no pulse when EMTs got to him, and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Chance had “world-class speed” and a better than 4.0 grade point… pic.twitter.com/64p4lu63ZQ

— Died Suddenly (@DiedSuddenly_) September 7, 2024

Florid high school football player dies after collapsing on the field.

Chance Gainer, 18, FLhttps://t.co/XRBwq7yTLF pic.twitter.com/012ZxHRTcO

— Died Suddenly News (@DiedSuddenlyNws) September 7, 2024

The player lost was high school senior Chance Gainer in Florida. “One of the best young men ever to walk the halls at Port St. Joe High School.” 4.0+ GPA. https://t.co/GsyR8sQSba

— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) September 7, 2024

Per ESPN:

The 18-year-old senior was playing cornerback when a play went to the opposite side of the field, said Tim Davis, Port St. Joe’s athletic director and vice principal.

Gainer was running toward the play when he collapsed, Davis told the Northwest Florida Daily News.

“He just went to the ground suddenly,” Davis said.

Coaches ran to his side and then signaled for paramedics. Gainer was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died. He had scored on a 70-yard touchdown earlier in the game and had returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown last week.

Davis said there were about four minutes left in Friday’s game when administrators learned of Gainer’s death. The decision was made to let the game finish, with Port St. Joe winning 28-0. Gainer’s teammates were then told of his death.

Port St. Joe’s game next week has been canceled.

“The National Federation of State High School Associations said last week that six high school players had died within the past month, four of them from heart issues and two from being hit,” ESPN noted.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.