14-year-old youth football star, Issaiah Abrego, passed away on Monday at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada after collapsing during halftime of his team’s football game. The young man had been sitting out of the game for a brief period prior to intermission, and had begun heading toward the end zone for regularly scheduled snacks and pep talk with the coach and the rest of his teammates.
Abrego’s father believes his son’s death may have been heart related; he also believes that the unfortunate loss of his son was not football-related.
Abrego, a member of the Las Vegas Green Machine football team, had always gotten regular checkups and had gotten his last one only two months ago; just six months ago he also took an EKG test. His family’s health history appeared to have subsided with Issaiah. EKG tests aren’t perfect, and unfortunately, heart abnormalities can still go undetected. That seems to be the case with Abrego. He collapsed during a game and never regained consciousness. Respiratory efforts on the field and in the ambulance on the way to the hospital failed, and Abrego couldn’t bounce back sadly.
Abrego was an eighth-grade Honor Roll student at Brian and Teri Cram Middle School in Las Vegas and a huge fan of the Oakland Raiders. He loved tackle football and had just begun playing in the fifth grade. He had dreams of working in sports medicine and wanted to join his high school’s program this fall. The Las Vegas teen was a huge force in the LV Sportz Foundation, an organization formed with the goal of increasing awareness and prevention of sports-related safety issues in the region. The organization is ready to battle the issue to prevent this from happening again. They’re taking the time to learn about what happened in an effort to educate the surrounding area. A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist the family. Their goal is to raise $15,000 dollars; they have already raised nearly that amount in just over 48 hours.
The staff of In the Game Sports Network extends its heartfelt condolences to the Abrego family during their time of grief. Donations are still being accepted via the family’s GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/issaiahabrego76.
ITG Web Content
Issaiah Abrego
Las Vegas, Nevada
Gone Too Soon: Teen Football Stars Passes Away After On-Field Collapse
By Njeri Mathis
Photo Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
