MISSION, Kan. — Outdoor conditioning while a heat advisory was in effect during the humid summer left 15-year-old soccer player Ovet Gomez Regalado turning pale and asking for water.
After a 15-minute exercise, he collapsed while walking to a building at his high school in suburban Kansas City and died two days later of heatstroke, the medical examiner’s office wrote this month in a report following a weeks of research.
That makes Regalado the latest in a series of teenage footballers to succumb to heat-related illnesses at high temperatures and high humidity.
The Johnson County, Kansas medical examiner’s report said the temperature on the fateful afternoon of August 14 was 92 F (33.3 C). National Weather Service data shows temperatures rose in the two hours after Regalado collapsed, from the mid-80s to around 90.
However, the high humidity made it feel much warmer.
Obesity also contributed to his death; Regalado weighed 384 pounds (174.2 kilograms) and had sickle cell disease. People with this characteristic are more likely to have problems when their body needs extra oxygen, as happens in extreme heat and after intense exercise.
Jeremy Holaday, assistant director of the Kansas State High School Activity Association, said only strength training and conditioning were allowed since it was still preseason.
“As far as we know, that’s what happened,” Holaday said.
He said the association recommends a wet bulb thermometer to monitor the heat, and a graphic The association’s website recommends based on the measurements when outdoor activities should be changed or stopped altogether. This metric is considered the best way to measure heat stress because it includes ambient air temperature, humidity, direct sunlight, and wind.
The heat and humidity figures reported in the medical examiner’s report suggest it was too hot for outdoor training. But the slightly cooler temperatures reported by the National Weather Service were imminent.
The situation was complicated by the fact that temperatures were rising.
Because Regalado’s death followed an offseason workout, the district, not the activities association, oversaw the investigation. The district said in a statement that staff acted in accordance with association rules and school emergency protocols.
After Regalado collapsed, ice packs were used to cool him, the medical examiner’s report said. But his body temperature was 40.3 degrees Celsius when emergency medical services arrived. They used several rounds of ice buckets and managed to get his temperature down to 102 F (38.9 C) before rushing him to a hospital. According to the report, he suffered multisystem organ failure and died two days later.
“For all who knew and loved Ovet, this report reopens the painful wounds that resulted from his untimely death,” the district said in a statement. “His absence is deeply felt in the Northwest community, and nowhere more deeply than by his family, including his brother, who continues to visit Northwest.”
David Smith, the district spokesman, declined to say Thursday whether Regalado had completed student physical therapy. Smith said the physical tests were supposed to take place when regular season practice started on Aug. 19, five days after he collapsed. Smith said he could not comment further out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Shawnee police also conducted their own investigation, which concluded with no further action, said Emily Rittman, the city’s public safety information officer.