Tragedy Strikes as 14-Year-Old Alabama Athlete Dies After Collapsing at Football Practice
On Tuesday in Alabama, Semaj Wilkins, a student at New Brockton High School, passed out during football practice and died.
Recently, the 14-year-old added a picture of himself on the football field in his new high school outfit to his Facebook page.
“He said, ‘No, I want to play football.'” “Mama, I can hit ’em, I can hit ’em.” Regena Johnson-Adams, Wilkins’ mother, told WDHN-TV, “He just loved sports in general.” She also said that her son liked baseball and basketball.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in the area hit 96 degrees on Tuesday afternoon.
Arnold Woodham, the coroner for Coffee County, said Wilkins had a medical issue on the field and was given CPR before being taken to the hospital.
“I freaked out. I ran out of everything I could think of. “When I got to that field, I was crushed because they wouldn’t let me get to my baby,” Adams told WDHN about the call she got telling her what had happened.
Woodham said that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences will do an autopsy. He also said that it would probably take a few weeks to get the results. We don’t yet know what caused the death.
Woodham said Wilkins passed out earlier in the practice, which raised the chance of a deeper medical problem. He said, “We will not decide until we have the final report.”
On Friday night, New Brockton High School’s football field will be the site of a vigil to remember Wilkins and honor his mother.
“Semaj was a smart and fun young man who inspired and made his friends, coaches, and teachers happy.” “Everyone who knew him will deeply feel his loss,” Coffee County Schools Superintendent Kelly Cobb said in a Friday post.
A town called New Brockton is in southern Alabama, close to the Florida border. It has about 1,400 people living in it.
“There are not many people living in New Brockton. “Everyone knows everyone else in this small town in the southeast of Alabama,”
Woodham said.