Texas Middle School Football Player Dies After Being Attacked By Fire Ants During Game
Most on-field football deaths have been the result of severe blunt force trauma to the head. In other cases, deaths have resulted from heat strokes and heart defects, all untimely deaths that ultimately could have been prevented. A sickening report is coming out of Haas Middle School near Corpus Christi, Texas. A 13-year-old middle schooler who dreamed of playing college football died during his football game last Wednesday. He didn’t die from heat stroke or severe head trauma, as you can tell by the headline. He died from a severe allergic reaction brought on by being attacked by fire ants. Cameron Espinosa collapsed in the huddle, was brought to the hospital and succumbed to the ant bites four days later.
There are a few things that are extremely, extremely messed up with this situation.
1. In an interview with NBC Station KRIS of Corpus Christi, a school board member named Hector Salinas said he inspected the field following the incident and counted at least 20 ant piles. This on a sports field that is only used by middle-school kids.
2. Espinosa’s mother told KRIS that there were no trained professionals on hand to deal with her son’s allergic reaction. In a day and age where liability lawsuits hold businesses and organizations by the balls, how is there no trained medical staff on hand at a football game? Okay, so maybe not every middle school district has paramedics on hand at a football game. What about a school nurse? An athletic trainer? Tragically, Espinosa’s mother said that if there was an EpiPen on hand, her son would still be alive. An EpiPen is a very common emergency treatment for allergic reactions.
3. THE GAME KEPT GOING. This poor child was taken away by ambulance, and despite all of these other factors, the game kept going. I understand it’s Texas, and football is a borderline religious experience for most people in the Lone Star State, but, what the hell? It’s a middle school football game. A kid was just hauled off by ambulance due to severe fire ant bites. The field is covered in ants and ant hills. Maybe call the game? Move it to another field (it’s Texas, football fields and stadiums are everywhere.) Corpus Christi is a city of just under 500,000 people, so don’t try and tell me there was not another football field to use. There is no excuse. Christian Espinosa should still be alive today, but he’s not, and it’s sickening.
