A teenager died after being hit in the chest by a soccer ball during a youth league game in Brazil.
Video footage showed Edson Gama, 16, standing in front of the net as the opposing team was about to take a penalty at a tournament held Sunday night in Maués, a city in the northwestern state of Amazon.
Gama was positioned towards the right side of the net when the first penalty shot went into the net, completely out of his reach.
He remained in the same place when the next thing hit him in the middle of the chest.
Gama stumbled to the ground and fell backwards as the recording came to an end.
Passersby in the field tried to provide assistance and his family was alerted to the tragedy around 1 a.m.
Gama’s sister, Elisia Lopes, told Brazilian online news outlet G1 that his parents had trouble taking him to the hospital in Maués because the rivers in their community, Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes, were dry.
The teenager had no vital signs when he arrived at the hospital at 12:15 the next day and his death was confirmed.
Edson Gama, 16, was hit by a soccer ball while trying to block a penalty during a youth league soccer game Sunday night and arrived at the hospital the next afternoon, but showed no vital signs and his death was confirmed.
Video showed Edson Gama failing to block the first penalty and then trying to defend the second shot when the ball hit him in the chest Sunday night. The 16-year-old boy was treated by passers-by. Due to a dry river, his parents had to wait until Monday to take him to a hospital, where he arrived after 12 noon without vital signs and was confirmed dead.
Lopes revealed that Gama had no heart problems, but told his family that he had chest pains before leaving the house.
While the family awaits the autopsy report that will determine the cause of death, doctors informed them that Gama’s death was likely due to him having previously been beaten in the area.
The treating doctors believe that the blow Gama suffered during the match could have aggravated an ailment he was already suffering from or caused the injury that ended his life.
Dr. Cotta Júnior told Folha Vitoria newspaper that Gama’s death could have been the result of commotio cordis, a rare and potentially fatal condition that occurs when blunt force trauma to the chest directly above the heart disrupts the organ’s normal rhythm.
It’s the same rare condition that nearly killed NFL player Damar Hamlin and is often associated with an increased risk for young baseball players.
‘Could there be a cardiac reason for this happening? And the answer is yes,’ said Júnior.
‘In fact, in medicine it has a name, it is called comotio cordis. It is trauma to the chest area, above the heart, and can actually cause cardiac arrest. One case per 100,000 athletes worldwide.’
Lopes described Gama as a soccer lover who made sure he was always on the field showing off his talent.
Edson Gama fell to the ground as soon as he received the impact of the ball in the chest. Doctors suggested that the latest blow could have worsened an existing medical condition or directly caused his death.
Gama was described by his sister as someone who never stopped playing soccer.
Edson Gama was buried on Tuesday
‘Every time there was this kind of tournament, he was there. He never missed a single football game,” he said.
‘I had already been hit by the ball several times in past tournaments. He was always dedicated to sports,’ he added.
“He was a young man who gave his life for the ball, and it was the ball that took his life.”