An Ohio County coroner’s office has determined that hyperthermia is the likely cause of death of Tyler Heintz, a Kent State University football player who died after a morning exercise.
The Portage County Coroner says autopsy findings indicate that hyperthermia is the preliminary reason Heintz died on the morning of June 13.
Hyperthermia occurs when the body fails to cool itself after exposure to extreme heat and symptoms include confusion, nausea, vomiting and rapid breathing.
Upon arrival, paramedics transported Heintz to a hospital following football conditioning drills at Dix Stadium, the Kent State football stadium. The team’s assistant trainer who called 911 said Heintz was ‘having trouble breathing’ and going ‘in and out of consciousness’.
via Record-Courier:
Portage County Coroner Dr. Dean DePerro said preliminary autopsy results showed Heintz, 19, had “a very high body temperature.”
As to “what led up to that, we’re still putting that together,” DePerro said Wednesday. He said his investigators still are following up with questions and interviews, following the result of the autopsy performed by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Kent State University set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Heintz’s family.
On Tuesday, Kent State released on statement on Heintz’s passing:
“Today the Kent State University family mourns the tragic loss of one of our student-athletes, freshman football player Tyler Heintz. Tyler was transported to a local hospital by paramedics this morning following football conditioning drills at Dix Stadium. The cause of death is not yet known.
Tyler was from Kenton, Ohio, and planned to study marketing and entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration. Tyler was recruited as a rising star on our offensive line.
Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with Tyler’s family and friends, as well as Coach Haynes and the team, our athletics staff and our student-athletes.”
You can find Heintz’s full obituary here.
