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Post #8038 The ME's report... Reply
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I will do my best early next week to get a hold of the interviews which today's story referenced. However, for now, here is the medical examiner's report on the cause of death...
Medical Examiner Case No. 2005-220 Name O'Neal, Aaron
Cause of death: Lymphocyctic Meningitis, probable viral etiology
Manner of Death: Natural
How Incident Occurred:
Rationale for Classification: The deceased was a 19 year old, four sport athlete who was taking part in a "voluntary" strength and agility training. He came to the University of Missouri in the summer of 2004 and stayed on at the University as a student. The voluntary training runs for a total of 26 workouts, 8 hours a week and started on the 6th of June. the day that he died was a Tuesday the 12th of July 2004. on Mondays the athletes worked on speed technique. On Tuesdays it was agility and lateral movement followed by an hour of weight lifting. The temperature at 2 p.m. on that day was 83 degrees with the humidity at 55 to 56%. The dew point was 63 and the barometer reading was 29.98.
The temperature at 3 p.m. was 84 deegrees, the dew point and humidity were the same and the barometer was 29.96
The temperature at 4 p.m. was 83 degreees, the dew point was 67 and the barometer was the same as it was at 3 p.m. The humidity was the same as in the previous two hours.
The training session on Tuesday started at 1:33 p.m. There was a 15 minute "dynamic" warm up and a 2 minut "stretch."
there were 6 stations for the 12 players in the afternoon session. There was enough water at every station in addition to water bottles for each of the players.
The first station was a "20 yard drill" to be completed in 4.6 seconds and Aaron did two of those at that speed.
The second station was "3 cone agility" in the 30 yard distance. Aaron could complete this in seven seconds and he did two repos of this with no apparent problem.
The third station was "RACE drill" (reaction, acceleration, change of direction and effort) This took ten seconds for one rep.
The fourth station "5 cone agility" with 40 yards and 80 yards. Aaron completed that with no apparent problem.
The fift station "6 bag drill" with a total of 60 yards that normally takes 8 seconds to complete. the first time Aaron did not do it at full effort (this was obvious to the staff) and so had to repeat the drill which he did at full effort.
The sixth station was "combination agility" and consisted of four different drills. Each one lasted from 6 to 8 seconds.
The 12 players were grouped into threes. There was a 4 to 1 ratio of rest to work for the 12 players. Aaron was in the last group of three. The first three drills were completed successfully. At the fourth drill the group of three had to repeat the drill because of another player. The next time they had to repeat the drill was because of Aaron. He should have jogged rather than walked to the starting line. They had to repeat it again and this time Aaron walked an jogged. he was "sluggish" and "shuffling rather than jogging." During the bear crawl "he was on his hands and knees rahter than on his hands and fee.t" this again was extremely unusual for Aaron.
One of his teammates asked him what the problem was and Aaron replied that he had not eaten that day. Supposedly Aaron had not performed well on the 10th of June 2005 and that day also supposedly he had not eaten. On that occasion however he did not lie on the turf or display thee unusual behavior that he did on this day. Hence this teime around his below par performance was attributed to that factor.
The coach blewe the whistle for the "post stretch." During the stretch Aaron was unsteady. The stretch consisted of a forward bend to the crossed feet. Aaron seemed to be repeatedly losing his balance. "he was wobbling."
Then the coach talked to all the players with the usual post drill announcements. Aaron was at the back of the group and he leaned on the shoulder of one of the players. He was heared to say "Oh gosh" and then went to the ground "slowly" first on his hands and then on his knees and finally lay down on the turf. This is an "unwritten" violation of an "unwritten rule" though an occasional player has done this in the past. Aaron has never done this before and this was highly unusual for him. Aaron stated to two people on the field, one a player and one a coach, that he could not see and that his vision was blurred.
When the coach observed Aaron lying on the turf he asked all the players to move forward so that a staff trainer could render assistance to Aaron. the individual approached and state that there weas nothing that could be done. Just to give a brief insight into Aaron as a player: both his teammates and teh coaching staff stated that he never complained. He knew what had to be done and just did it. One of the coaches describes Aaron as a "tenacious competitor" and that "he did not ever give up." This opinion was gotten from everyone interviewed.
One of the staff assisted Aaron to get up and walk to his weight lifting group (still on the field). After the group instructions Aaron walked off the field and was assisted by another player off the field for the last 20 or so yards to the locker room. The assistance consisted of Aaron putting his arm on his teammate's shoulder.
Once in the locker room Aaron leaned his back on the wall and just slid to the floor and the proceeded to lie on the floor. His teammates were all the time encouraging him to get up and he kep saying that he could not get up and that he was exhausted. One player observed that "he was stuttering and deep breathing." A staff person stated that "he looked like he was passed out drunk." At this time he was not talking. Conversations with Aaron at this time were one sided.
In the locker room a player poured water on him and noted that his tongue was white and he cradeled his head and gave him water to drink which Aaron spat out. They tried to slap his face to get him up. He was "deep breathing" at this time. He was "gasping and moaning" and now the staf personand player tried to get him up but could not because Aaron was limp and could not assist them in picking him up off the ground where he lay. the staff person then decided to get help and went to look for someone to assist. he spotted a landscape truck and got the driver to back up to the locker room. With a great deal of difficulty )Aaron kept slipping through their arms as they tried to lift him up off the ground) they put Aaron in the truck. Aaron was seated between a staff person and the driver of the truck. He could not hold his head up and the staff person held his head up by holding onto his chin. he was taken to the training center. Throughout the ride to the training center, there was no verbal response from Aaron. He was unconscious. The player that assisted in putting Aaron in the truck traveled in the truck, but at the back. While in the locker room and the truck Aaron was moaning.
He was then carried into the training center and placed on a table. A staff person checked for a pulese nad noted that he had a weak pulse. At one point there was no pulse. The staff person decided to use the AED; however the monitor said "no shock advised." Rescue was called. During this entire time Aaron was unconcsious. The body temperature was not recorded. The opinion of everyone interviewed who were either working out with him that day or observing as staff was that the day was not excessively hot and that the training schedule for the day was not overly strenuous.
The autopsy revealed a well nourished , well built, muscular, 19 year old male. There was no trauma to the body. The brain was exxamined by a neuropathologst. the brain was edematous and there was a lymphocytic meningitis and evidence of sickling in the vessels. This same finding (sickling) was evident in the vessels of all the organs that were examined microscopically. The postmortem blood was examined for hemoglobinopathies ad he was found to have the sickle cell trait. The heart was emained by a cardiac pathologist. he determined that the deceased had changes that are seen in athletes. there was no pathology in the heart to account for the death. The rest of the organs did not show any pathology that could have resulted in his death. the toxicology was negative for drugs and alcohol including ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine. Additional testing for steroids was also negative. The toxicology was submitted to two independent laboratories. The lungs showed edema and congeestions.
Reviewing all the symptoms and sings that Aaron displayed both on and off the football field that day his death was clearly neorological and not cardiac based on his inability to get up, the visual diffulty as voiced by Aaron to two people on the field at two different times, the "wobbling" and "shuffling" on the field, the "off balance", the extended period of respiratory difficulty well demonstrated by an eye witness who describes both the labored breathing and the agonal breathing. The cardiac rhythm was never one of rhythm disturbance but rather asystole. The heat factore that day and the training program in place was the same for all the players and not unique to Aaron. The environmental factor hence was not an issue in this death. It was the human factor, i.e, the neurological findings at autopsy that caused his demise.
Based on the extensive data base surrounding the circumstances of this death the cause and manner of death are as listed above.
Post #8038 The ME's report... Reply
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will do my best early next week to get a hold of the interviews which today's story referenced. However, for now, here is the medical examiner's report on the cause of death...
Medical Examiner Case No. 2005-220 Name O'Neal, Aaron
Cause of death: Lymphocyctic Meningitis, probable viral etiology
Manner of Death: Natural
How Incident Occurred:
Rationale for Classification: The deceased was a 19 year old, four sport athlete who was taking part in a "voluntary" strength and agility training. He came to the University of Missouri in the summer of 2004 and stayed on at the University as a student. The voluntary training runs for a total of 26 workouts, 8 hours a week and started on the 6th of June. the day that he died was a Tuesday the 12th of July 2004. on Mondays the athletes worked on speed technique. On Tuesdays it was agility and lateral movement followed by an hour of weight lifting. The temperature at 2 p.m. on that day was 83 degrees with the humidity at 55 to 56%. The dew point was 63 and the barometer reading was 29.98.
The temperature at 3 p.m. was 84 deegrees, the dew point and humidity were the same and the barometer was 29.96
The temperature at 4 p.m. was 83 degreees, the dew point was 67 and the barometer was the same as it was at 3 p.m. The humidity was the same as in the previous two hours.
The training session on Tuesday started at 1:33 p.m. There was a 15 minute "dynamic" warm up and a 2 minut "stretch."
there were 6 stations for the 12 players in the afternoon session. There was enough water at every station in addition to water bottles for each of the players.
The first station was a "20 yard drill" to be completed in 4.6 seconds and Aaron did two of those at that speed.
The second station was "3 cone agility" in the 30 yard distance. Aaron could complete this in seven seconds and he did two repos of this with no apparent problem.
The third station was "RACE drill" (reaction, acceleration, change of direction and effort) This took ten seconds for one rep.
The fourth station "5 cone agility" with 40 yards and 80 yards. Aaron completed that with no apparent problem.
The fift station "6 bag drill" with a total of 60 yards that normally takes 8 seconds to complete. the first time Aaron did not do it at full effort (this was obvious to the staff) and so had to repeat the drill which he did at full effort.
The sixth station was "combination agility" and consisted of four different drills. Each one lasted from 6 to 8 seconds.
The 12 players were grouped into threes. There was a 4 to 1 ratio of rest to work for the 12 players. Aaron was in the last group of three. The first three drills were completed successfully. At the fourth drill the group of three had to repeat the drill because of another player. The next time they had to repeat the drill was because of Aaron. He should have jogged rather than walked to the starting line. They had to repeat it again and this time Aaron walked an jogged. he was "sluggish" and "shuffling rather than jogging." During the bear crawl "he was on his hands and knees rahter than on his hands and fee.t" this again was extremely unusual for Aaron.
One of his teammates asked him what the problem was and Aaron replied that he had not eaten that day. Supposedly Aaron had not performed well on the 10th of June 2005 and that day also supposedly he had not eaten. On that occasion however he did not lie on the turf or display thee unusual behavior that he did on this day. Hence this teime around his below par performance was attributed to that factor.
The coach blewe the whistle for the "post stretch." During the stretch Aaron was unsteady. The stretch consisted of a forward bend to the crossed feet. Aaron seemed to be repeatedly losing his balance. "he was wobbling."
Then the coach talked to all the players with the usual post drill announcements. Aaron was at the back of the group and he leaned on the shoulder of one of the players. He was heared to say "Oh gosh" and then went to the ground "slowly" first on his hands and then on his knees and finally lay down on the turf. This is an "unwritten" violation of an "unwritten rule" though an occasional player has done this in the past. Aaron has never done this before and this was highly unusual for him. Aaron stated to two people on the field, one a player and one a coach, that he could not see and that his vision was blurred.
When the coach observed Aaron lying on the turf he asked all the players to move forward so that a staff trainer could render assistance to Aaron. the individual approached and state that there weas nothing that could be done. Just to give a brief insight into Aaron as a player: both his teammates and teh coaching staff stated that he never complained. He knew what had to be done and just did it. One of the coaches describes Aaron as a "tenacious competitor" and that "he did not ever give up." This opinion was gotten from everyone interviewed.
One of the staff assisted Aaron to get up and walk to his weight lifting group (still on the field). After the group instructions Aaron walked off the field and was assisted by another player off the field for the last 20 or so yards to the locker room. The assistance consisted of Aaron putting his arm on his teammate's shoulder.
Once in the locker room Aaron leaned his back on the wall and just slid to the floor and the proceeded to lie on the floor. His teammates were all the time encouraging him to get up and he kep saying that he could not get up and that he was exhausted. One player observed that "he was stuttering and deep breathing." A staff person stated that "he looked like he was passed out drunk." At this time he was not talking. Conversations with Aaron at this time were one sided.
In the locker room a player poured water on him and noted that his tongue was white and he cradeled his head and gave him water to drink which Aaron spat out. They tried to slap his face to get him up. He was "deep breathing" at this time. He was "gasping and moaning" and now the staf personand player tried to get him up but could not because Aaron was limp and could not assist them in picking him up off the ground where he lay. the staff person then decided to get help and went to look for someone to assist. he spotted a landscape truck and got the driver to back up to the locker room. With a great deal of difficulty )Aaron kept slipping through their arms as they tried to lift him up off the ground) they put Aaron in the truck. Aaron was seated between a staff person and the driver of the truck. He could not hold his head up and the staff person held his head up by holding onto his chin. he was taken to the training center. Throughout the ride to the training center, there was no verbal response from Aaron. He was unconscious. The player that assisted in putting Aaron in the truck traveled in the truck, but at the back. While in the locker room and the truck Aaron was moaning.
He was then carried into the training center and placed on a table. A staff person checked for a pulese nad noted that he had a weak pulse. At one point there was no pulse. The staff person decided to use the AED; however the monitor said "no shock advised." Rescue was called. During this entire time Aaron was unconcsious. The body temperature was not recorded. The opinion of everyone interviewed who were either working out with him that day or observing as staff was that the day was not excessively hot and that the training schedule for the day was not overly strenuous.
The autopsy revealed a well nourished , well built, muscular, 19 year old male. There was no trauma to the body. The brain was exxamined by a neuropathologst. the brain was edematous and there was a lymphocytic meningitis and evidence of sickling in the vessels. This same finding (sickling) was evident in the vessels of all the organs that were examined microscopically. The postmortem blood was examined for hemoglobinopathies ad he was found to have the sickle cell trait. The heart was emained by a cardiac pathologist. he determined that the deceased had changes that are seen in athletes. there was no pathology in the heart to account for the death. The rest of the organs did not show any pathology that could have resulted in his death. the toxicology was negative for drugs and alcohol including ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine. Additional testing for steroids was also negative. The toxicology was submitted to two independent laboratories. The lungs showed edema and congeestions.
Reviewing all the symptoms and sings that Aaron displayed both on and off the football field that day his death was clearly neorological and not cardiac based on his inability to get up, the visual diffulty as voiced by Aaron to two people on the field at two different times, the "wobbling" and "shuffling" on the field, the "off balance", the extended period of respiratory difficulty well demonstrated by an eye witness who describes both the labored breathing and the agonal breathing. The cardiac rhythm was never one of rhythm disturbance but rather asystole. The heat factore that day and the training program in place was the same for all the players and not unique to Aaron. The environmental factor hence was not an issue in this death. It was the human factor, i.e, the neurological findings at autopsy that caused his demise.
Based on the extensive data base surrounding the circumstances of this death the cause and manner of death are as listed above.
_STLfan_in_DFW@Aug 26 2005, 10:52 PM
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