Freak accident takes the life of a young athlete at my brother's school

[Winsor]

Garfield students pay tribute to classmate
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
BY RICHARD COWEN
The Record
STAFF WRITER

Garfield High School students and faculty stood on the front sidewalk Tuesday and paid a silent tribute to their classmate, Thomas Adams, the young athlete who died Friday night after being struck by a baseball in the chest.

The only sound was of a helicopter whirring overhead as the funeral procession carrying the 16-year-old boy rolled up Outwater Lane and stopped in front of the high school. A family member got out and presented principal Michael McGinley with a wreath. McGinley placed the wreath under the message board on the front lawn and the funeral procession moved on to George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus.

Garfield High School students and faculty stood on the front sidewalk and paid a silent tribute to their classmate, Thomas Adams, as his funeral procession passed the school.

“Thomas was loved by everyone,” McGinley said minutes later as the students went back inside. “His family, his classmates, the faculty. Everyone.”

One student, Kristine Justiniano, held a t-shirt that said “R.I.P Thomas” that was signed by Adams’ classmates. She planned to present to the shirt to his parents.

“He was always very happy, making people laugh,” she said. “This is really bringing me down. He used to be in the same lunch as me and sat behind me. It’s difficult to be in the lunch room now, knowing that’s he not there.”

The boy’s uncle, Tim Adams said the family was moved by what the outpouring of kindness and love.

“That was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?” he said Tuesday night.

Adams said the cause of death has not been determined, and probably won’t be until tests are completed sometime next week.

But the circumstances of Thomas’ death — a sudden jolt to the heart by a speeding ball — have led medical experts to suspect that he died of commotio cordis. A sudden trauma to the chest can cause the heart to stop beating, and typically involves young male athletes.

Thomas was a catcher for the Jersey Braves, a travel team that was preparing for a trip to the Winter World Series in Florida. The team was having a workout inside the gymnasium at Blessed Sacrament School in Paterson when tragedy struck.

Thomas was wearing a mask, chest protector and shin guards and catching a pitcher during a bullpen session. The man who was coaching the session, Eric Lindstrom, said Tuesday that the pitch glanced off Thomas’ glove and struck him in the chest protector. Moments later, the youth collapsed on the floor.

Lindstrom, 33, of Wayne, is a baseball coach at William Paterson University and also coaches the North Jersey Cardinals, a youth travel team from Madison. Lindstrom said he was invited to Friday’s night’s workout by another coach who worked with the Braves.

Lindstrom said the pitcher and catcher had been standing on the gym floor about 60 feet apart — a distance that Lindstrom said he measured by eye to simulate game conditions. The pitcher was doing a 25-pitch warm-up and had tossed about 20 balls when the accident happened.

Lindstrom estimated the pitch that struck Thomas was traveling about “82 or 83 miles an hour.” That’s certainly fast, but it’s a standard speed at this level of play, Lindstrom said.

The pitch was straight and down the middle, but Thomas didn’t appear to catch it cleanly. It bounced off his glove and hit him in the chest protector, Lindstrom said.

In that split second, there was no indication that anything was wrong.

“I turned to the pitcher and said ‘nice pitch,’” he said. But when he turned back around, Thomas was laying on the floor.

Lindstrom said he dashed toward the boy and several coaches rushed to his aid. “By the time I got to him, people already had their cell phones out and were dialing 9-1-1,” he said.

Lindstrom said he did not know if there were any defibrillators in the gym. But when he saw that others were attending to the boy, he ran outside to see if he could flag down a passing police car. He doesn’t know how much time elapsed before he flagged down a police car.

 “It may have been seven minutes, or 10 minutes, I just don’t know,” Lindstrom said.

He ran back inside with a Paterson police officer, who rushed over to help the boy. The ambulance squad arrived at almost the same time and then took over the scene, Lindstrom said. The boy was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, but all efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Lindstrom says he’s been coaching baseball since he was 19 years old. “I’ve probably coached 2,000 sessions in my career, and there was absolutely nothing about how that workout was set up that was unsafe,” he said. “It was a freak accident.”

And that accident has left a huge emotional scar at Garfield High School, where students and staff are helping each other cope.

“We tell them to live for today, that tomorrow isn’t promised,” said Wayne Harper, a counselor at the school. “And that life is a gift.”

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Garfield_students_pay_tribute_to_classmate.html?c=y&page=1

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Video: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/12/07/loved-ones-hold-funeral-for-nj-student-athlete/

[doglady]

How awful.  I'm sorry to hear that, the pitcher must be devastated, even though its no ones fault.

[scarlet1]

So sorry to hear that...my thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

[Pollock]

Absolutely soooooo awful on so many levels. The only potential positive, if there can even be one, is the outpouring of love and support for the family from their community.

But suddenly and unexpectedly losing your child at this time of year - I just can't even comprehend how awful an experience that must be.

[Betty Blowtorch]

That really is tragic.  And really is a freak accident... I've never heard of anything similar.  I hope his parents continue to receive the love and support that will help them in this time of tragedy.  Same with his classmates and teammates... they too will need time/support.

[Winsor]

They just did a candle light vigil at the school last night. The gym was packed.

The best way to describe the kid was Forest Gump; simple, but fucking nice as hell.

[Jeni]

That is so sad.