Navy football player Will McKamey, 19, dies

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Mar 26, 2014, 12:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Annapolis Capital Gazette

Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 11:19 pm | Updated: 10:33 am, Wed Mar 26, 2014.

By ALEX JACKSON [e-mail] CapitalGazette.com

Navy football player Will McKamey died while in a coma Tuesday at the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, the U.S. Naval Academy said.

McKamey, 19, of Knoxville, Tenn., collapsed Saturday during spring practice.

The freshman underwent cranial surgery Saturday afternoon at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center to reduce swelling and bleeding affecting his brain. ... He had been in a coma ever since. Doctors often place patients in a medically induced coma in order to hasten the healing process.

The academy announced McKamey’s death in a press release around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/naval_academy/navy-football-player-will-mckamey-dies/article_14420392-9abf-5505-9b2d-fb49af95e7fc.html

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He had sustained "a major head injury" while playing in high school.

Navy running back Will McKamey dies at age 19

By Rick Maese, Wednesday, March 26, 1:01 AM

Just three days after collapsing at a spring football practice, Navy freshman Will McKamey died Tuesday night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, the school announced.
....

McKamey had previously suffered a major head injury as a senior at Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville, Tenn, that prematurely ended his high school career. While McKamey’s father initially expressed concern that his son collapsed following a hit during Saturday’s practice, the player’s mother later said she did not believe he collapsed as a result of a physical blow.
....

McKamey collapsed on the practice field and was airlifted to Maryland Shock Trauma Center on Saturday. His family was immediately notified and quickly boarded a plane for Maryland. They knew the stakes. McKamey’s father, Randy, played at the University of Tennessee and coached his son’s high school team. Less than 15 months ago, he’d watched his son suffer a bruising hit during a game and collapse on the field. The young player was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Chattanooga and wouldn’t appear in a football game again.
....

McKamey was a 5-foot-9, 170-pound slot back for Navy. He did not play during his freshman season and had not competed in a game since high school. ... The family said McKamey didn’t have football contact for nine months and he was seen by four neurosurgeons during his recovery. “I want to be clear that the Navy football program nor us as his parents would have ever allowed him to be in a dangerous situation,” Kara McKamey wrote on Facebook earlier this week.

Former Grace Christian football star Will McKamey dies

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By Jesse Smithey Knoxville News Sentinel
Posted March 26, 2014 at 12:28 a.m., updated March 26, 2014 at 2:31 a.m.

Former Grace Christian Academy football star Will McKamey died Tuesday at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, the Navy football team announced. He was 19.

Photo by Saul Young, Knoxville News Sentinel

Former Grace Christian player Will McKamey runs against CAK in the State Farm Rivalry Thursday game with Grace Christian Academy at Christian Academy Knoxville on Thursday, September 6, 2012. (Saul Young/News Sentinel)

[bigwillq]

1. That's sad.

RIP, Will.

[exboyfil]

2. Apparently they could not find a single hit on the video

of the practice. He was hospitalized after a brain injury in High School in 2012. I think this reinforces the argument of one and done for brain injuries in football.

[Doctor_J]

3. Football has sort of become a 20 billion dollar gladiator ring

Pulling the plug on it would generate an economic nightmare. Meanwhile no one who participates at the NCAA D1 or NFL emerges without crippling damage. It will be interesting to see the resolution.

[bpj62]

4. Brain Injuries

I love football and I played it at a high school level 30 years ago. Back then you never saw shots to the head from either helmets or shoulder pads. You were taught to drive your face mask into the offensive players chest and keep your head up the whole time. The game changed in the 90s and for the past few years the NFL and subsequently the NCAA and the High Schools have tried to reel in the very bad tackling techniques that led to many of the injuries for both players. The service academies are very contentious when it comes to their student athletes because most of them will serve a minimum of 5 years. His injury was probably hidden and it just showed up during Spring Practice.

[Dawson Leery]

5. The American football player is the modern gladiator.

[cyberswede]

6. So sad.

So young - what a shame.

[VA_Jill]

7. Clarification, of a sort

I remember this story pretty well. I don't live in Knoxville any more but my daughter does and I am still pretty plugged into news in the area. If I remember right, Will's original injury involved a hit to the head and a blood clot that was between the surface of the brain and the dura mater (covering of the brain). It went away on its own and he was cleared to play again by a TEAM of neurologists (not just one!). The Academy was apparently fully aware of the previous injury. I'm thinking he might have played freshman or JV football at the Academy but not sure. Anyway, he doesn't seem to have taken any hits during practice Saturday, and this may be just one of those sad, tragic happenstances, what in anyone else would be called a stroke. Yes, young people do have them, and frequently they are devastating.

He was an outstanding young man, just the kind of kid you'd want your son to be friend with or your daughter to go out with. RIP, Will.

[exboyfil]

8. I have to question clearing him after the original

serious hit. He must have loved football, and he might have died just doing PT, but why put such a wonderful young man at risk again. It is simply not worth it. My friend's son is in his class at the Academy.

This brings back the whole question of football and head injuries. If I had a son I would not allow him to play football (both because of the risk to the spine and because of concussions). My daughter fell at school just walking in the hallway (she was probably intentionally tripped). She definitely had degraded computational skills after the injury.

[VA_Jill]

10. You can't

wrap kids in cotton batting and stick them on a shelf. You just can't. My son ran cross country and had the usual assortment of bangs and bumps but his knees were fine until about his tenth year in the army. My daughter played soccer for 12 years and the only injury she ever had was shin splints, but the whole team did because that coach made them run in their cleats on concrete. They were all fine the next year under a different coach. On the other hand, a friend's kid, who never played sports at all, got bumped in the elbow at band practice and developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome which essentially ruined her life. Other kids I knew played football and *never* got hurt. LIFE is a crapshoot. What you gonna do?

[BeyondGeography]

9. Tragic

My heart goes out to those who loved him.