A 16-year-old girl suffered a medical emergency while playing a high school flag football game in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sophomore Ashari Hughes, 16, died after she collapsed during Desert Oasis High School’s home game against Valley High School around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
She was hospitalized and died later that night, the paper added. Despite heroic efforts, the young girl could not be saved.
The tragedy follows Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s recent cardiac arrest during a “Monday Night Football” match-up against the Cincinnati Bengals in front of millions on live TV.
Aphelia Phifer-Hill, a registered nurse whose daughter played on the team, rushed to perform CPR and used an external defibrillator.
“Today was the first time ever, in my 26 years of nursing, that I had to do CPR on a kid,” she wrote on a Facebook post, adding that Hughes collapsed after the game, and “everyone was panicking” amid the cold, rainy weather.
“Her family was not at the game but finally arrived,” the since-deleted post continued. “We were able to get a heart rhythm.”
The girl’s parents, Enttroda and Twayne Hughes, said in a statement, “She loved music, dancing, and being around all the people she loved … She called football the real love of her life!”
Discover more from Baller Alert
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.