Colorado Springs – A Harrison High School senior collapsed during the third quarter of a home football game Friday evening in Colorado Springs and later died, officials say.
Fermin Vialpando was pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital after he collapsed during last night’s game against Ridge View Academy. Vialpando, a 6-foot-1 inch, 210-pound center, was a third-year starter for the Panthers.
“Fermin Vialpando died while running, despite immediate medical attention from an on-scene physician and rapid transport to the Memorial Hospital emergency room and additional medical treatment,” said deputy El Paso County coroner Dawn Miller.
Miller said preliminary findings of an autopsy performed Saturday morning found that he died of a cardiac condition.”
A toxicology analysis found that he had no drugs in his system, Miller said.
Further tests will determine what specific cardiac condition Vialpando had. That could take several weeks, she added.
The game was cancelled and so many of the team players congregated at Memorial Hospital Friday night that the staff had them gather in the cafeteria.
Counselors and coaches spoke with players about their strong friend who never had any health problems, said Harrison Athletic Director Dave Hogan.
“We needed to talk about what happened,” he said. “Everybody liked him. He was a nice person to talk to.”
Coaches, players, friends and students met again at the high school Saturday morning, Hogan said.
“He didn’t want to let his team down,” Sundae Vialpando, Fermin’s mother, said Saturday. That was the most important thing to him.”
She said her son was very strong and had no health problems that she knew of.
“Doctors said sometimes with an athlete – it puts a strain on their heart,” Sundae Vialpando said.
Hogan said Fermin collapsed while running across the field, not because he was struck hard during a play.
