TRAGEDY STRIKES
Friday night football is a long standing tradition in this country. Family members and alumni come out in force to support the Home team. Each Friday night, someone ones and someone loses. Friday night, Sept 13th, no one won. It was a complete loss.
Just as the 1st quarter was ending, our quarterback threw an interception. Roane County came up with the ball. There were ovations from Roane County supporters. With teams changing field positions, Roane County’s Alex Miller was at the bench. With the Roane stands directly behind him, he went down.
For this reporter who was listening to the sportscaster TG Griffith on 101.7FM, it was apparent up front, something was wrong, real wrong. You could hear it in Mr Griffith’s voice. The field announcer named the player as #80, Alex Miller. TG provided no details. I think he too was in shock.
An ambulance was summoned on the field. All action on the field stopped. Players, cheerleaders, knelled. Officials took off their caps. There was silence at Bradley field.
Any time you see ambulance crews start CPR, you have to know, Miller’s heart had stopped working. The chance of CPR making a difference, is slight, very scant, at best.
The Clay Ambulance flipped on the lights and siren and the mad dash to Charleston was underway. One feller told us, as the unit went passed the Clendenin exit of I-79 S, he was setting sail.
Why was Miller NOT helicoptered to CAMC? There is no room in the small bird to perform CPR. Also, the air service does not fly cardiac arrest events. They only handle extreme trauma cases.
Those at field side told us, once ambulance crews got on scene, Mr Miller showed no movement. Afterwards, several Roane County parents told us, he was non responsive.
We did not have a paid Clay Ambulance paramedic on board. It is our understanding, a Roane County team trainer is also a certified professional paramedic.
At the field, the PA announcer told the hushed crowd, the game had been suspended and would be played, continued Saturday night, Sept 14th.
Saturday morning around 8:15, the Roane High website announced: For this Friday the 13th and with a full moon above, all the wind was out of Friday Night Football fun. Word spread quickly. Around the counties, the shock continues.
Other news sources
provided stronger write ups.
From Metro News and Chris Lawrence: As members of the Roane
County student body, staff, coaches and community came
together to remember Senior football player Alex Miller, there
were no proper words.
Miller,
a wide receiver for the school’s football team, collapsed on
the sideline during the Raiders’ Friday night game at arch
rival Clay County.
Best
friend and teammate Layne Epling was injured and didn’t play.
He was by his side when Miller complained of dizziness.
“He
said he was dizzy and the trainer made him lie down and told
me to talk to him. I started asking him questions and he knew
the day, the month, and where he was, but then he stopped
breathing and his eyes rolled back,” said a stunned Epling.
EMS
was immediately called to the sideline and frantically worked
to save his life. Their efforts however were ultimately
unsuccessful.
A
day later, still in shock, the community gathered at the
school. At Roane County Stadium, where the flag had been
lowered Saturday in honor of Miller, his picture hangs along
with those of other senior players. Epling and friends Destiny
Blosser and Taylor Mace stared at the picture in disbelief.
“He
was just a great guy,” Epling added fighting back tears. “He
was my best friend. He was the brother I never had. We hung
out every day and there was rarely a day you’d catch me
without him.”
A solemn
embrace was all players and coaches were able to muster a day
after an unspeakable tragedy hit their team.
“I
recently lost my mother and he was there,” Blosser added. “He
was such an outgoing person and was always willing to help
others when they needed it.”
Miller
was described as a person other people gravitated toward. He
was a natural leader according to friends and one who could
always be counted upon. The three friends considered him very
much a big brother.
“He took
me to church with him every Sunday to his youth group.
He really helped me reconnect with God . He never had anything
mean to say and was always helping anybody. He was the
absolute definition of what a human should be.” Mace said. When asked by
MetroNews to share a little about the young man lost,
Assistant Coach John Gray offered some of the highest
praise. “Outstanding
kid,
first class, great student, great character, the kind of kid
you would want to call your son,”
Roane
County was playing Clay County Friday night when the incident
occurred at the end of the first period. Witnesses tell
Metronews the first quarter ended and players came to their
respective sidelines. As they were returning to the field to
begin the second quarter, there was a frantic call for EMS
from the Roane County sideline. Paramedics immediately
responded and the entire team was moved to the field to allow
EMS crews room to work. The rescue personnel performed CPR
even as he was being transported from the field to the
ambulance.
As Miller
was taken to the hospital, the stadium went silent. The Public
Address announcer asked for prayer. Members of both teams,
coaches, cheerleaders, and referees gathered at midfield. Fans
prayed silently in the stands.
The
game was suspended and was tentatively set to resume at 7:30
p.m. Saturday. It’s unclear if that will be the case.
Grief
counselors are on hand at the school and the doors are open
today for anyone needing support.
The last
time a player died during a football game in West
Virginia was 2013. South Harrison High School player Dylan
Jeffries
died nine days after he was injured in a game against
Lincoln High School.
Ritchie
County player Chuck
Scholfield
died in 1993 several days after he suffered a head
injury in a game with Wirt County. The Rebels’ stadium
is now named in his honor.
An
article in the Washington
Post
from 1981 reports a Winfield High School player
collapsed and died during a preseason practice and in 1979 two
players died and a third was left a quadriplegic, which
precipitated a requirement by the West Virginia Department of
Education to have athletic trainers in place by 1985 for all
junior and senior high programs.
Clay County
mourns the loss of young player from Roane County. AW
UPDATE
Sept 17
ALEXANDER
JACKSON “ALEX” MILLER, 17, of Spencer, West Virginia died
suddenly and unexpectedly Friday, September 13, 2019 on the
football field in Clay County, West Virginia. Alex was born
January 6, 2002 in Spencer, a son of Sean and April Blankenship
Miller. He was a senior at Roane County High School where he was
a member of the football team among other things. He loved life
and his family and friends and playing his guitar. He was a
devout Christian and a member of the Boggs Fork Community Church
and the Boggs Fork Youth Group. In addition to his
parents, Alex is survived by two younger sisters, Abby and Bree
Miller; paternal grandparents, Jackie and Warren Starcher and
Wayne and Dee Dee Miller; maternal grandparents, Mike and Janet
Blankenship; paternal great-grandparents, Jack, who was his best
friend, and Doris Lemaster; maternal great-grandmother, Edith
Neiding; one aunt, Amy (Edward) Patton; two uncles, Derek Miller
and Michael Blankenship; and several other extended family
members. Alex’s funeral services will be held Saturday,
September 21, 2019 at 4:00pm at the Roane County High School
with Pastor Russell Stump officiating. Visiting hours will be
from 11:00am until time of the service at the high school. After
the service the body will be cremated with burial of his ashes
taking place at a later date in the Short Cemetery, Boggs Fork.
TAYLOR-VANDALE FUNERAL HOME, 206 Beauty Street, Spencer, is in
charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, family requests
donations to the scholarship fund for Alex. Make checks payable
to the Miller Family, c/o Principal Bill Heis, 1 Raider Way,
Spencer, WV 25276.