Texas Student, 16, Collapses After Winning Cross Country Race, Dies

A 16-year-old high school student in Texas died after collapsing during a cross-country meet.

According to The Cinco Peso Press, the school newspaper at Chisholm Trail High School in Fort Worth, Angel Hernandez, who had finished first in a three-mile race, lost his life on October 13.

Teachers at the school conveyed the heartbreaking news to students during their classes, revealing that Mr Hernandez had passed away at a hospital following the race.

One of his teammates, Alejandro Bailey, told the paper, “As the moment was happening all any of us could think about is that hopefully he could pull through this and that we needed him. I was trying to focus on just trying to stay strong for him.”

Mr Bailey also remembered his dear friend and said that he “was like family to the team.”

Chisholm Trail head coach Joe Gifford told MileSplit that “after crossing the finish line, Mr Hernandez collapsed. It’s what you’d expect from a kid at the district championships after running a PR.”

Initially, Mr Hernandez was assisted to the water station by one of his teammates, but unfortunately, he fell back down.

“When the firemen arrived, Angel [Hernandez] was not breathing and they did all they could do to resuscitate him and they transported him to the hospital,” Gifford added. 

Cross country coach Randall Durant, in his statement after Mr Hernandez’s death, said, “Every conversation you had with Angel, he was kind of like an old soul a little bit which means he was mature. He was always interested in what you were doing and what you had to say, and not always just about himself. He was very in tune with other people.”