An Alabama high school football player collapsed during a practice and later died on Tuesday.

Semaj Wilkins, 14, a freshman at New Brockton High School, was given CPR on the field after suffering a medical emergency and later taken to the hospital.

Today.com reported that the incident happened around 4:30 p.m. while the team was going through warmups.

“It’s dealt a real blow to this small community,” Coffee County Coroner Arnold Woodham told the outlet. “I’ve been here all my life and this is the first time I’ve seen or heard of anything like this occurring here.”

The cause of Wilkins’ death was not immediately known.

“Semaj was a young man who brought joy and inspiration to his peers, teammates, coaches, and faculty members. His loss will be deeply felt by everyone who knew him.” Coffee County Schools Superintendent Kelly Cobb wrote in a statement on Thursday.

Regina Johnson-Adams, Wilkins’ mother, told WDHN, a television station in Dothan, Alabama, that her son had a “love for sports.”

She said she wasn’t aware of any underlying health issues in her son before his passing.

“At this time, I know that my son was healthy…It was probably something that we missed,” Johnson-Adams said, per WDHN. “You never know because we do have underlying health problems in our family.”

The latest tragedy comes just over a week after a high school football player in Virginia passed away on the field after a similar collapse at practice.

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/sports/alabama-hs-football-player-semaj-wilkins-dies-after-collapsing-at-practice/