Ovet Gomez Regalado, the 15-year-old Shawnee Mission Northwest sophomore-to-be, died of complications of a heat stroke at an August pre-season workout, according to an autopsy from the Johnson County Medical Examiner.
Gomez Regalado collapsed around 5 p.m. on Aug. 14, a day the National Weather Service had posted a heat advisory for the region. He died two days later at the hospital. The autopsy results were first reported by KSHB.
The autopsy report noted the temperature was 92 degrees and the humidity 70%.
Scott Anderson, an exertional heat stroke expert and long-time head football trainer at the University of Oklahoma, says the heat and Gomez Regalado’s size were a deadly combination. The teen was a 384-pound lineman, making him especially prone to heat stroke.
“If we look back at the last 20 years of football exertional heat stroke deaths, 97% of them have been linemen. And of the high school players, 100% of them were linemen,” Anderson told KCUR.
On the day Gomez Regalado collapsed, the team spent half the practice in meetings and the other half doing conditioning. The team lifted weights for 30 minutes before running, according to a practice schedule obtained through the Kansas Open Records Act.
At 4:40 p.m. — the hottest part of the day — the team did four 120-yard sprints and six 40-yard sprints. After the sprints, Gomez Regalado “was pale, sweating profusely and asking for water before he collapsed,” according to the autopsy report.
Anderson said that kind of running is dangerous for big lineman and does nothing to enhance their football skills.
“(Linemen) work in a in a very small space,” Anderson said. “Their sprinting in-game is very minimal. And so doing that that type of workout isn't even specific to how they play the sport.”
Gomez Regalado also had sickle cell trait — something the coaching staff should have been aware of, according to Anderson. It is not known if staff knew about the condition.
The autopsy report said Shawnee Mission Northwest High School staff tried to cool down the teen with ice bags.
In a Shawnee Mission Northwest document titled “Athletic Emergency Action Protocol,” it says a cold-water immersion tub is located at the northeast corner of the football field. The protocol, which KCUR obtained through a request under the Kansas Open Records Act, says a player should be immersed in the tub until his core temperature is 102. The autopsy said at the time the bags were placed on him, Gomez Regalado’s core temperature was 104.6.
According to Anderson, an ice bath seemed appropriate. “That's the quickest, most effective way to cool them down,” he said.
The district says it has already completed an internal investigation.
“The purpose of this investigation was to determine what happened and why, and specifically whether anything could or should have been done differently,” according to a statement.
“The district found that the actions of SM Northwest staff were in accordance with Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) rules and school emergency action protocols.”
The district would not release the entire investigation, saying it contains “confidential” information. The statement concluded with this: “The SM Northwest community and the entire Shawnee Mission School District remain heartbroken over the loss of Ovet and we continue to support each other through this difficult time.”
The medical examiner’s report says Shawnee Police are investigating “concerns of improper practice procedure.”
This is the third heat-related death of a student-athlete in Kansas in the last six years.
The first was in August 2018 when 19-year-old Braeden Bradforth died after his first practice as a freshman at Garden City Community College. An external investigation revealed "a striking lack of leadership" by top college officials, including former head coach Jeff Sims.
In August 2021, 19-year-old Tirrell Williams died at Fort Scott Community College after a grueling pre-season workout.
Last August, Myzelle Law, also 19, died after a workout at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe. The cause of his death has not been made public.
Gomez-Regalado was one of at least nine middle and high school football players who died in August and September at practices, games or after practice. Many of them, like Gomez-Regalado, were due to hot weather conditions.
Some have died from traumatic brain injury or other causes. A 17-year-old Georgia football player, Finely Kruchten, died following a pulmonary embolism earlier this month. In September, 18-year-old Chance Gainer, a high school senior in Florida, collapsed before halftime during a game and died shortly after.
At least 16 youth football players died last year, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. Nine of them were in middle and high school.
Following Gomez Regalado’s death, students and staff at the school shared an outpouring of love and support for his family. A GoFundMe set up for the family raised more than $33,000.
Savannah Hawley-Bates contributed to this report.
