Spring Hill Football Player Dies After Collapsing During Game
By Jeff Gulley
News of the death of Spring Hill football player Nathan Stiles spread quickly through both communities Friday morning.
Students and parents woke up Friday morning to the shocking news, that the young man many of them had prayed for during the Osawatomie/Spring Hill football game died at the hospital.
Stiles, a senior running back for the Broncos and son of Miami County Commissoner Ron Stiles and his wife Connie, had already scored twice in an exciting first half of the football game when he went to the sidelines complaining of a headache and collapsed. As both teams headed for the locker room at halftime, EMTs were called to the Spring Hill sidelines to tend to the 17-year old athlete. He was taken to the University of Kansas Hospital by air ambulance.
“It’s something you never expect,” Osawatomie coach Clint Bailey said.
After the long delay, Osawatomie and Spring Hill players and coaches met at midfield to pray for Nathan before starting the second half. Spring Hill went on to win the game 99-72.
As the news spread Friday, Bailey said he gathered the Osawatomie team.
“We just wanted them to know that they had not done anything wrong,” Bailey said. “Football is a game of hitting and tackling and sometimes bad things happen. It’s hard to cope with at that age. It was something I had never dealt with before.”
Ron Stiles told the Kansas City Star Friday that Nathan had suffered a concussion during Spring Hill’s homecoming game but had been cleared to play in Thursday night’s game. He also stated that there were no malicious hits in the game.
Friday morning the family issued a statement.
“We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from the community over the death of our beloved Nathan. He was an outstanding young man with a remarkable faith in Jesus. We are comforted by our faith and our friends and will always rejoice for having Nathan in our lives.”
Spring Hill High School put the crisis plan in place on Friday and had counselors available to deal with the tragedy.
USD 230 Superintendent Bart Goering released a statement on the school Web site.
“On behalf of the entire Spring Hill School District family, we extend our deepest condolences to the Stiles family,” Goering said “This is a heart-breaking loss for everyone who knew Nathan. He achieved greatness in everything that he was involved with and his presence in our lives was a gift.”
Hundreds attended a candlelight vigil Friday night at the Grace Community Church in Spring Hill. Funeral services for the family and church family are today. Another memorial service will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Spring Hill High School auditorium.
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Posted by admin
on Nov 3 2010. Filed under News and Updates.
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