Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Autopsy: Blunt head trauma killed player

But health care official says game injury might not fully account for Gomez's death

The Las Vegas High School football team kneels at the end of practice Monday afternoon, a day after the death of senior defensive back Edward Gomez. Photo by John Gurzinski. Las Vegas High School defensive back Edward Gomez (21) makes a tackle during Friday's game against Desert Pines. Gomez, who was injured in the game, died Sunday at University Medical Center. He was 17. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Las Vegas High School's football team returned to practice Monday, a day after the death of defensive back Edward Gomez. But while Gomez will no longer be on the field, his presence will remain strong, the Wildcats' coach says.

"He was a tremendous kid in our football program in the spirit and attitude that he brought," Kris Cinkovich said. "We won't ever let that go away."

Gomez, 17, collapsed near the end of Friday night's Sunrise Regional championship game against Desert Pines, won by Las Vegas 38-14. He died Sunday night at University Medical Center. An autopsy revealed the cause of death was blunt head trauma, according to the Clark County coroner's office. Details of the autopsy report were not made public.

"(Gomez) was enthusiastic, and he obviously would do anything for his teammates," Cinkovich said. "He brought great, upbeat energy to our football program."

The senior didn't appear hurt initially when he left the game in the fourth quarter after making a tackle. But he soon collapsed on the sideline.

A football injury might not fully account for Gomez's death, however, according to Jim Porter of HealthSouth, a health care services provider which contracts with the Clark County School District to provide athletic trainers for area football practices and games.

"His symptoms don't fit the timeline for a game-related head injury," said Porter, a former paramedic with 30 years of experience as an athletic trainer. "It wasn't reacting as a typical athletic head injury. It appears to me to be unrelated to football."

Gomez slipped into unconsciousness within minutes of delivering what videotape shows to be a textbook tackle, said Porter, who is HealthSouth's regional outreach coordinator. Nothing looked wrong when Gomez, a senior defensive back, collided with a Desert Pines receiver. Gomez bounced up, high-fived a teammate, and then jogged to the bench, Porter said.

Minutes later, he complained of dizziness and collapsed.

But unlike the typical head injury scenario, Porter said, there wasn't a change in Gomez's level of consciousness immediately after the tackle. Gomez had no problem standing, nor did he exhibit an altered gait. It made Porter wonder whether Gomez suffered from a closed head injury, such as an aneurysm, that had developed previously and then surfaced at the game.

"It was extremely atypical for this to go the way it went," Porter said.

Cinkovich shielded his players from the media on Monday as the team prepared for its Class 4A state semifinal game against Palo Verde.

The Wildcats (12-0) are to host the Panthers (12-0) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, unless Gomez's funeral is scheduled for that day, Cinkovich said.

If that is the case, the school would ask the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association to postpone the game, a request that would probably be granted.

"I think we'll do whatever we have to do to help out the situation," NIAA executive director Jerry Hughes said.

Said Cinkovich: "Everybody's in shock; it's something you never expect to come from playing a game. That's the toughest part about it."

That shock and devastation isn't exclusive to the football program. Las Vegas Athletic Administrator David Bechtel said the whole school is grieving.

"It affects everybody: students, faculty, staff," Bechtel said. "The students are struggling. They're going through the whole grieving process right now. They're still kind of hurt. The mood was as supportive and caring as it could possibly be, but the kids are just hurt right now."

The circumstances of Gomez's death were traumatic for teammates and friends, said Rosemary Virtuoso, who oversees psychological services in the district's Northeast Region. Grief counselors were on campus all day Monday and will return today. The impact is deeply felt because Gomez was a student leader whose collapse took place in such a public way, Virtuoso said.

"It was just a really hard day," said Virtuoso, who was one of the counselors working with students.

"He was a respected leader, he was a good kid, and people really liked him."

Bill Garis, the district's director of student activities and athletics, said Gomez's death will probably prompt a re-evaluation of student safety measures in sports. But like Porter, Garis wondered what actually caused Gomez's death. Garis witnessed the tackle, and although it was hard, it didn't look unusual, he said.

"This kind of thing is rare," Garis said. "My thoughts are certainly with his family."

Garis said he knew the situation was serious by Cinkovich's demeanor as the player was attended to.

"When (Cinkovich) went over and told the team, and almost every kid breaks down crying, it really put the important things in life in focus right there on the spot," Garis said.

"It's just a chilling sight to see when something like this happens."

Hughes said he could recall only one other sports-related death in his 14-year NIAA tenure. An Owyhee football player died in 1989.

Cinkovich said Gomez had made great strides in the classroom.

"This year, he essentially had doubled his GPA that first quarter and was well over a 3.0 that quarter," Cinkovich said. "I remember him showing me his grade-check sheet, and his report card at the end of the first quarter and how proud he was. He was doing a really good job, the best he'd ever done."

There are plans for a tribute to Gomez at Saturday's game, though the exact nature of the tribute is not known. No matter what is done to honor him, Bechtel said Gomez will not be forgotten.

"He was kind of an infectious kid," Bechtel said. "He worked hard, was a good kid, friendly and everybody liked him. Everybody still does like him and misses him. You can't say much more about somebody than that."