INSIDE
Parros, 21, became sick training as Army Ranger at Fort Benning, Georgia
Parros was taken to the hospital with hyponatremia, a condition in which the body’s level of sodium becomes abnormally low.
A former De La Salle High School quarterback pursuing the same elite level on the military field as his team did on the gridiron fell ill during training and died at a Fort Benning, Georgia, hospital earlier this week, officials said Thursday.
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Michael Parros, 21, died at Midtown Medical Center on Wednesday after becoming sick during his first day of training to become a U.S. Army Ranger, Army spokesman John Tongret said.
An ambulance took him there with hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when the body’s level of sodium becomes abnormally low. The condition
can be caused by factors ranging from an underlying health condition to drinking too much water during an activity, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“This is a tragic loss,” said Lt. Col. Matthew We- ber, Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment. “He showed so much potential and was the epitome of the kind of soldier you want to serve with.”
Parros’ unit, 199th Infantry Brigade, had wrapped up a session of combat training. He began showing symptoms of hyponatremia shortly after eating, and his condition “escalated very quickly,” Tongret said.
“When he was admitted, that’s what he was suffering from,” he said. “It hasn’t been determined at this point if that was his cause of death. Unfortunately, there are a lot of questions right now that we just don’t have answered, yet.”
His family was notified and made the trip from Walnut Creek to be with Parros at his bedside, Tongret said. They were not available for comment.
The death left the football program at De La Salle, in Concord, stunned. Parros played on the school’s varsity team from 2010 to 2011, seeing time at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back. He completed six of nine passes for 74 yards as a backup during his junior season. He threw only one pass as a senior.
“He was a great kid, a very good athlete,” De La Salle head coach Justin Alumbaugh said. “He was very, very bright, very intellectual. That’s why he was trying to become an Army Ranger. That takes a special young man.
“He was always introspective. Always thinking bigger and better.”
Former De La Salle head coach and current assistant coach Bob Ladouceur said he saw Parros “at the end of the school year when he came home.”
“He was out on our field, doing conditioning work and working with us. He seemed excited and happy. It was good to see him. He looked great.”
In May, Parros graduated from the U.S. Army Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he was an athlete in football, hockey, and soccer.
He arrived for training with U.S. Army Rangers on June 27.
The Army Rangers are considered an elite military formation. The two-month Ranger School course tests soldiers’ abilities to overcome fatigue, hunger and stress during combat operations.
The training is considered grueling for even the best-conditioned individuals, but the Monday exercise concentrated on choreographed maneuvers and was not as difficult as some of the training can be, Tongret said. The heat was stifling — the high in Fort Benning was 95 degrees on Monday, with the heat index at 103 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
According to MayoClinic.org, heat can become a factor when someone is suffering from hyponatremia because sodium is an electrolyte that regulates the amount of water in and around the cells.
“Heat is always in play here this time of year,” Tongret said.
“I hate to speculate and say heat was a part of it, but I certainly couldn’t argue against it, either. That said, we are not 100 percent certain this was a heat-related injury.”
Among the symptoms associated with hyponatremia, according to MayoClinic.org, are nausea and vomiting, headaches, confusion, muscle weakness, and spasms and seizures.
Friends expressed shock and surprise on social media of Parros’ passing.
“‘I got the giggles coach’ my most memorable quote from you,” TJ Brassil posted on Twitter. “You will be missed Michael Parros. RIP.”