High school football cheerleader collapses, dies
LOS ANGELES - October 2, 2011
The student was briefly revived after passing out Friday night
on the sideline at Fremont High School, according to Los Angeles
Unified School District spokesman Tom Waldman. She was rushed to a
hospital where she died about three hours later.
The girl, a student at Washington Prep High School, apparently
suffered sudden cardiac arrest, Waldman said.
School officials did not release the student's name when
contacted by The Associated Press. Washington Prep Principal Todd
Ullah identified the girl as 16-year-old sophomore Angela Gettis
and told KABC-TV that she was a good student.
School district Superintendent John Deasy said Saturday the girl
was "a wonderful young lady. It is a catastrophic loss for the
school and for the community. My heart goes out to her family."
A witness, Cameron Bonner, told City News Service the Washington
Prep squad tied the game against Fremont in the fourth quarter when
the cheerleader collapsed. Play was stopped and coaches and
trainers ran to help the girl.
"They had just tied the game up, and the cheerleaders were
pumped up," Bonner said. She appeared "to just pass out," he
said.
Bystanders performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
"All of her friends were in a circle crying," Bonner said.
Crisis counselors will be at Washington Prep on Monday to help
students and faculty deal with the death, Deasy said.