I got me a hankering for some more anime.
Tragedy required tough questions
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There are stories, and there are stories, and there are stories, and every now and then, there are stories like that of 15-year-old Max Gilpin.
It's the kind of story that -- contrary to what some believe -- most journalists would prefer not to have to cover -- the death of someone so young, so full of hope, so full of potential.
It is also the kind of the story that demands tough questions, deliberation and honest answers.
Max died three days after experiencing breathing difficulties and collapsing at the end of football practice at Pleasure Ridge Park High School. The heat index had reached 94 degrees -- a point at which players are supposed to be allowed to drink as much water as they want. A second player also experienced breathing problems but has recovered.
This happened on Wednesday, Aug. 20, and by Friday, Aug. 22, an initial examination by the Jefferson County Public Schools had concluded that all precautions had been taken and there were no violations of district policy. On Aug. 23, Max Gilpin died.
Two stories published in The Courier-Journal since then have provoked the ire of some members of the PRP community who think the newspaper has been insensitive to the family and PRP community in general.
One story was an eyewitness account by four people who say they heard a coach deny some players' request for water. (None of them knew if Max was one of the boys, and a fifth eyewitness has come forward.) That story has prompted the school district to take a harder look at the circumstances around Max's death and triggered an investigation by the Louisville Police Department.
But some readers e-mailed us to say that story, which was published on the day of the funeral, should have been delayed out of respect for the family. The second story was about the funeral itself and, again, some thought it was insensitive to the family.
Make no mistake: We take everything we do here seriously, and these stories were no exception.
This case is a classic example of the delicate balancing act that news organizations across the country face every day in weighing the rights of the people we cover and the public's right to know.
In the case of the eyewitness account, there was never any thought of delaying the story. It was too important to hold, especially given the school district's quick rush to judgment on what had occurred. I can't think of any credible newspaper in the country that would not have promptly published a story of such importance. We would have been remiss not to do so.
You also should know that Max's mother, Michele Crockett, fully supported that story and others we have done. And, as for covering the funeral, she approved our request to cover it.
We clearly understand the sensibilities in cases such as this, and we try our best to be respectful.
But we also have an obligation to report the news. That's our job.
We make literally hundreds of decisions a day as we go about putting out the next day's newspaper -- what stories will go where on Page One, what's the most important story of the day, what stories will go in the Metro section, what reporter will cover a certain story, and on and on and on. Some decisions are easier than others. Decisions are always more difficult when they involve the loss of someone's loved one, especially someone as young as Max Gilpin.
While our stories may have been difficult for some to read, they have raised serious questions about Max's death. Had we not published the eyewitness accounts, would the Jefferson County school system be taking a deeper look? Would the police department be involved?
Probably not.
This story is too important to gloss over. Too many people have a stake in this one, including the hundreds of parents who have children in the Jefferson County school district.
Max Gilpin, a perfectly healthy young man by all accounts, died, and that shouldn't have happened.
That's why we are asking tough questions and looking for honest answers.
Bennie L. Ivory is vice president and executive editor of The Courier-Journal.
Boy, 16, killed after egging carsSunday, August 31, 2008 3:40 AMTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCHGeorden Burton is comforted by Westland guidance counselor Christi Shore at the football game last night." border="0">
ADAM ALEXANDERDispatchGeorden Burton is comforted by Westland guidance counselor Christi Shore at the football game last night.
Westland High School junior Garrett P. Burton, 16, was shot and killed near Hilliard-Rome Road." border="0">
Westland High School junior Garrett P. Burton, 16, was shot and killed near Hilliard-Rome Road.
First, a moment of silence. Then the Westland High School band played the school's alma mater in memory of Garrett P. Burton at last night's football game.The 16-year-old junior was shot and killed early yesterday, apparently in retaliation for throwing eggs at vehicles driving on Hilliard-Rome Road. Columbus police said Garrett died at the scene just before 3 a.m.
Garrett and at least one other boy were in the backyard of a house at 5402 Ripplemead Court when someone shot him in the head.
His grieving family came to the game last night to honor him. They hung a poster with his name, birthday, the day he was killed and a message from his mom, Patti.
They stood on the field with their arms around each other when those in the stadium stopped to remember Garrett.
"It was a dumb juvenile prank. Get your car washed, don't kill my kid," George Burton said about his son.
Burton, a Columbus police officer, didn't know details of the case or why his son was out so late, just that Garrett had been "out egging."
Garrett was killed in Ramiro Toribio's backyard, which backs up to Hilliard-Rome Road. A white plank fence and a line of trees buffer traffic noise. The area between the fence and the trees also could provide cover for teens to play pranks on passing motorists.
Toribio didn't hear the shot; police knocking at his door woke him up about 3 a.m.
"They said, 'Don't go outside; there's a dead person in your backyard,' " he said. He said Garrett's body was removed by the coroner's office about 8:30 a.m.
Toribio and his family have lived in the house since 2000. He said it's a quiet neighborhood.
His daughter, Laura, is a student at Westland and knew Garrett.
"She said he was a very likable kid," Toribio said. "For someone to kill a kid because of that is beyond belief."
News of Garrett's death spread quickly around this Far West Side community. Students sent text messages to each other and talked about the tragedy at the game.
Paige Turner, 15, said Garrett was in some of her classes. She was shocked when she heard that he'd been killed.
"It's really sad because he's really nice and he's never mean," she said.
Garrett tried out for the Westland football team last year but decided "it wasn't in him," his dad said. Garrett's older brother, Georden, was a linebacker on the Westland team until he graduated this year.
People described Garrett as quiet, very polite and helpful. He worked at Kroger and loved to golf, bowl and play basketball.
Another Columbus teen was killed in connection with an egging incident in 2006. Danny Crawford, 14, was shot and killed on the Hilltop after a group of boys he was with threw an egg at a car. No one has been charged in his death.
Anyone with information about Garrett's death is asked to call Columbus homicide detectives at 614-645-4730. His death was the 65th Columbus homicide this year.
Dispatch reporter Kathy Lynn Gray contributed to this story.
At R.J. Reynolds High, the deaths reverberate
Saturday, August 30(updated 3:00 am)WINSTON-SALEM — The words still ring through the years, from the last time death visited Reynolds football, and they still sting.
“Then the locals punted out, and on the eve of what was to be the most brilliant victory in the history of the school came the most horrible catastrophe that fate could send; for it was in this play that Leo Caldwell, our star halfback, in making a tackle, lost his life.”
The words were written in 1923 in the first Black and Gold annual after the school opened 85 years ago. A plaque outside the gymnasium honors the fallen student, and a scholarship in Caldwell’s name has been awarded each year since his death.
A large banner hung from the railroad bridge below the historic campus Friday afternoon. "Home Football Game — RJR.” Another hung from the giant windows of the school. “We will never forget.” By its side, another. “Remember Matt Gfeller — 57.”
Death returned to Reynolds football 85 years after the tragic death of the 1923 team’s star halfback. Gfeller, a sophomore linebacker, Eagle Scout and artist, died from an injury sustained in last Friday’s game against Page. A week later, on the same football field, the Demons played again.
“I wasn’t sure we would be able to do this,” athletics director Jim Spivey said before Reynolds’ 37-16 loss. “The players wanted to play.”
And so they played.
Friday was a normal school day at Reynolds. There were no announcements, no instructions about the counselors on the school grounds or about the special ceremonies planned before the game against rival East. Most everyone knew about them, anyway. It had been a long, tough week at Reynolds, and most everyone agreed that it was time to begin the slow and painful process of moving on.
They buried their 15-year-old classmate Wednesday. Gfeller died Sunday morning from a brain injury suffered in a freak accident during the game against Page.
The football team decided earlier Wednesday that it needed to go to the stadium as a group, stand on the 30-yard line where the accident occurred and allow the players to have their own service for their teammate.
Friday night, as parents and alumni and teachers and administrators stood in silence, the players walked into Deaton-Thompson Stadium again, this time along with the East Forsyth players, all of whom wore the No. 57 on patches and helmet stickers. In fact, several schools in the area have decided to wear the number for the rest of the season.
Since the Reynolds team could only practice sparingly this week, East decided to do the same.
The teams were nervous Friday night, even scared. A moment of silence was held in the uncomfortable minutes before the playing of the national anthem, and then a football game was played on the hallowed ground where a player was fatally injured seven days earlier.
Reynolds is one of the oldest high schools in North Carolina, a school originally named Winston-Salem High School, a school that has produced state football champions and All-America collegians and NFL players dating back years and years. The brick-and-mortar outer walls are built with classic lines, narrow hallways wind around courtyards and catacombs stretch underground filled with artifacts from the Roaring ’20s.
Reynolds is a proud old school, and its community is tight, a black-and-gold line stretching 85 years.
That community came together this week in memorials and services for Gfeller, a kid who often told his friends, “I won’t let you down.” Almost to a person, they wore a T-shirt Friday with that quote on the front and the number 57 on the back.
He was a kid who touched people, a talented actor and a son and a brother who loved football more than anything else. His dream, the family said, had always been to wear the black and gold, to play football for his school.
A foundation was set up 85 years ago to provide scholarships in the name of Leo Caldwell, the star halfback who fell in the great victory over Charlotte in the first year of the new school building. All these years later, the school and the city that grew around it continue to honor his memory.
Matt Gfeller died after playing the only game he would ever play for R.J. Reynolds. A community of friends came to honor his memory Friday night, each of them pledging to remember him forever, as is tradition, beneath the pines of Reynolds High.
Ed Hardin, RJR class of ’74, can be reached at 373-7069
Okaloosa schools to review death of Niceville football player
Comments 0 | Recommend 0August 31, 2008 06:44:00 PMNICEVILLE
The Okaloosa County School District will conduct a review of the death of sophomore football player Taylor Haugen.
The review is not an indication of fault, but merely a procedural effort.
"We want to determine the sequence of events that happened between the time the players hit each other to the time he was under the care of emergency medical treatment," Okaloosa County Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts said Sunday. "He was wearing the right equipment, and the ambulance was there within five minutes. I'm not sure what we could have done differently.
"It was a tragic accident," Tibbetts added.
Jerry Sansom, the school district's director of athletics, will conduct the review.
Niceville football coach John Hicks said he received a call from the Florida High School Athletic Association with well-wishes and that he will speak with the organization's representatives this week to discuss paperwork to be completed regarding the incident.
Haugen suffered an injury to his mid-section after colliding with two Fort Walton Beach players Friday night in the junior varsity portion of a Kickoff Classic game at Steve Riggs Stadium. He left the field under his own power before collapsing on the sideline.
There, a team trainer and doctor treated him until an ambulance arrived minutes later, and he was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, according to Tibbetts.
Haugen died early Saturday.
"It was a very short response time," she said. "From the time (medical personnel) got there, they were in charge and they made the decisions. He was being treated as best he could and everyone did everything they could do."
Tibbetts said the review is done just to be aware of everything surrounding the event.
"The county will be looking at all of the aspects of this tragic accident," she said. "We want to be aware of everything that happened. I want to be a problem solver and look at all sides. This student was equipped with all the gear that is expected and everyone was on top of everything they needed to be on top of.
"It's just a tragedy."
Barnwell High School Football Player Dies Save
Posted: 6:59 PM Aug 31, 2008
Last Updated: 10:28 PM Aug 31, 2008
Reporter: Ashley Jeffery
Email Address: ashley.jeffery@wrdw.com
News 12 at 11 o'clock August 31, 2008
BARNWELL, SC--Justin Ferguson and James Wooden always played side by side and now that he's gone; this is one warhorse that will never be forgotten.
"He gave everything he had and that's what he did that last day of practice," said Justin Ferguson, James' teammate.
Justin Ferguson was at James Wooden's side when he collapsed after practice Tuesday and he can't believe his friend won't be back by his side ever again.
"I saw his eyes rolling around so I knew he was dehydrated real bad but I never knew it would be like this," said Justin.
Justin rode to the hospital with James and prayed everything would be just fine, but it wasn't. James' football coach tells News 12 the high school junior died Sunday morning from complications from a heat stroke.
Before he fought for his life in the hospital. James was a fighter right here on the football field as one of the toughest yet gentle Barnwell Warhorses."
"When the pads weren't on, you couldn't get him to hurt a single person, not even a fly. But when he put those pads on, you better know he was ready to hit," said Justin.
The "big teddy bear" as many would call him, touched countless lives in the Barnwell community. His number 79 painted in the end zone and posters still hung around the stadium from Friday's game. Reminders of support from a community that hoped James would be hitting the field once again.
And for James, a promise from his friend.
"He'll be there, he won't be there but his spirit will. The whole year is dedicated to him now," said Justin.
A team that plays for one horse, one town, and now one friend who will never be forgotten.
Coach Joey Still tells News 12 that James had suffered from other heat related complications this season. A few weeks ago he was hospitalized but was recently cleared to hit the field again.
He was able to play in the team's season opener against H-K-T.It's unclear at this time if the teenager had other medical problems that contributed to the heat stroke. No cause of death has been released
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