By Connie Leonard
(LOUISVILLE) -- A tragic accident has taken the life of a Jefferson County High School student. On Tuesday, a Western High School soccer player died from injuries he suffered in a game against Pleasure Ridge Park a day earlier. As district play continued Tuesday night, WAVE 3 Investigator Connie Leonard got reaction from other soccer players and families on the unexpected loss of life.
Big district soccer match ups: an important game for rivals Male and Manual, and in the practice field Tuesday night, St. X was getting ready to take on Central, but on this night, the excitement was overshadowed.
As one mom put it: "It's just a tragic thing for the whole soccer community."
At Manual Stadium, everyone from administrators to parents to players, was thinking of the Western Warriors and the tragedy that befell one of its members.
"In my experience as a high school athletic director, which is 20 years, I've never heard of that type of tragedy in soccer," said Manual Athletic Director Larry Woolridge.
Western Principal Louis Hughley was also in shock. "I've been in this business for 30 years," he said, "and I never thought that I would have a day like this. It's something you never imagine would happen."
Parent Bob Kaufman says "it's just something that makes you sick. It passed around, word of mouth, and everyone gets that look on their face."
Jacob Martin plays goalie St. Xaiver's soccer team. "It's weird to think somebody can die playing a sport you play every day."
But, that's exactly what happened to Western High Goalie Francisco Valle Victorino. The 17-year- old died at Kosair Children's Hospital Tuesday, from injuries he received during a Monday game against PRP.
Players learned that just as Francisco was making a dive for the ball to block a goal, a PRP player kicked it, sending it into the goalie's throat with great force.
Afterwards, witnesses say Francisco tried to stand, but immediately collapsed and was rushed to nearby Caritas Medical Center before being taken to Kosair, where he died around 8 a.m. the next day as his teammates, family and friend stood vigil outside his door.
"Everybody on the team really loved him," said his coach, Montrelle Irvin. "He was very outgoing and always had a smile on his face. Everybody depended on him."
"How can you feel anything but just absolute sadness for the family?" asked Paul Neumann, whose son, Alex, plays for the Crimsons.
As a parent and former coach, Neumann says he thought it was the drive home he had to worry about -- until now.
For Martin, who usually thinks of broken legs or twisted ankles when he thinks about the risks of his game, Francisco's death is sobering. "I've thought about getting hurt and stuff, but I've never thought about somebody dying playing soccer.
For the first time, St. X trainer Alex Stovall brought the school's defibrillator, normally used for the football team, to Tuesday's practice.
"It makes you want to think maybe that's your team out there," he said. "It's your friend out there that's dying like that, and you want to be prepared for it."
But being prepared, everyone fears, isn't always enough.
As Neumann put it, "What you're worried about is that family, and what they're going through and the fact that they don't have a kid tonight ... and that's about as bad as it gets."
The injury to Francisco came in the second half of Western's 5-0 win over PRP.
Preliminary autopsy results indicated that Francisco suffered a vertebral artery laceration that caused massive bleeding, mostly in the head, Jefferson County Deputy Coroner Gayle Norris said Wednesday.
Eric Chudler, a research associate professor in the University of Washington's Department of Anesthesiology, said he could not recall someone dying while playing soccer.
"It may happen, but I just haven't heard of it," said Chudler, who tracks soccer safety issues and was a youth soccer coach himself for a number of years.
Western was to play again Tuesday but the match was postponed. The team plans to dedicate its season to Francisco, who will always be remembered as a top player and a team leader, but more than anything, he'll be remembered as a happy kid who was always smiling.
A fund has been set up to help Francisco's family take care of funeral arrangements and other costs. Donations can be made at any Fifth Third Bank.
Online Reporter: Connie Leonard
http://www.wave3.com/story/3969686/soccer-community-mourns-after-death-of-western-high-player?clienttype=printable
= new reply since forum marked as read
, many of the teachers are so clueless they don't notice, and the parents just want him to stay in school. The kid's spent two weeks in a row unable to find the bathroom -- not ditching class, but literally coming back to class and asking for help on finding the bathroom.
