How the death of a third H.S. football player in the last week affected the community
A third football player dies in a week marking a tragic occurrence in the football fraternity in New York. Tom Cutinella, a 16 year old student at Shoreham- wading river high school has passed on following a serious head injury. According to the Suffolk county police spokeswoman Joan Jesinger, Cutinella passed on after a collision with an opponent during Wednesdays night’s game against Elwood- john H Glenn High school.
This comes as a big blow as Tom Cutinella is the third footballer to die on the same week. First it was Demario Harris Jr., 17, of Charles Henderson High School two days after the game. According to sources near the family, the cause of the death was not immediately gathered. Days afterwards the community witnessed yet another mysterious death of Isaiah Langston, a 17-year-old on September 26th. The cause of his death was not found immediately either. There is major speculation that the students involved in this mysterious turn of events have had pre- existing conditions that could cause brain injury hence the unexpected and tragic loss of lives. Taking on his Facebook account, Mr. Harris Sr., Tom’s father explained that the reports being peddled around that his son had died of an aneurysm were false.
He cleared the air by dispelling the claims and clarifying that Tom Cutinella had severe brain hemorrhage after a hit during the game. Superintendent Steven Cohen expressed his dismay describing Cutinella as a beloved young person to everyone who knew him. He further said how deeply his death deeply touched everyone in the community. Through a press release, Cohen illustrated his mercy to Tom’s family as well as the community at large for their loss. He portrayed Cutinella as a humorous person who excelled academically.
The community is shocked beyond believe with the principle Dan Holtzman the principle at Shoreham-wading river high school assembling a crisis team. The team includes students who have demonstrated support for each other cementing the schools culture of creating a comfortable and family friendly environment. The community surrounding the involved areas has been served with more questions than answers surrounding the mystery that is the death of young students. Following these uncertainties, an email was sent to the student body informing them Tallahassee community college would be performing a survey of the TCC community to help the school’s smoking policy.
This was one of the measures put in place in the schools to counter the unexplained deaths. The school community is receptive about TCC becoming a smoke free-zone as those surveyed said yes to the project. The death of the three students is a shocker to the community and more so to the football community who have lost young and budding players. The death of the third H.S. football player in the last week has prompted the community to take measures like regulating the smoking policy and ensuring a more student friendly environment to ensure such mysterious phenomena do not take place.
References
"SWR plans vigil for football player who died after injury." Suffolk Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014
"Hundreds attend NY teen football player Tom Cutinella's funeral | Daily Mail Online."Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014.
Erickson, Graham B. Sports Vision: Vision Care for the Enhancement of Sports Performance. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007. Print.
