High school football player dies

Alvin ISD student suffered health complications during game

A junior at a Pearlandarea high school died Saturday after health complications during a football game in San Antonio.

Chase Lightfoot, who played defensive tackle for Shadow Creek High School, received medical attention on the sidelines from athletic trainers and doctors before being transported to a hospital, where he died around 2:30 a.m., according to school district officials and friends.

“As educators, there is nothing we deal with more difficult than the loss of a child,” Principal Kelly Hestand wrote in a statement. “This will be a difficult week for our campus. It will also be a time for us to pull together and show support for the young man’s family as well as those closest to him.”

Counselors from the district’s crisis response team will be at Shadow Creek on Monday to help students, Hestand said.

“This is a scenario you pray will never impact your students or community,” said Alvin ISD superintendent Buck Gilcrease. “I can’t imagine the heartbreak experienced by

the young man’s family.”

Lightfoot led the youth choir at South Union Missionary Baptist Church on the third Sunday of each month. Videos posted online showed the congregation dancing as he sung, and social media posts made note of his smooth voice. Friends said the athletic teenager loved to joke and called him a “sweetheart.” They were stunned by his sudden death.

“Keep replaying the sight of us on the side watching helplessly as our brother fought for his life. We praying for your family,” Twitter user @KarrienClinton posted Saturday night.

No details about Lightfoot’s medical history were available Saturday.

Seven high school players nationwide died from injuries suffered on the football field in 2015. The top cause of death among high school athletes is sudden cardiac arrest, according to a study by the Heart Rhythm Society. At least 76 high school athletes have died from the condition in Texas over the past decade.