Hartsville High School Football player Collapses and dies last Friday Night! Read inside! A story that will or at least should touch your hearts!
I come from a somewhat small town in Hartsville, SC. I’ve lived here all my life except for a year away at College many years ago. This past Friday night our #1 ranked in the State Hartsville High School Red Foxes took the field against Crestwood and everything was as normal in the beginning. That all changed in the 2nd quarter as one of their big linemen stayed on the ground after a tackle. The coaches and trainers went out to him and was able to get him up and he walked away off the field on his own power. After getting to the sidelines, Ronald Rouse collapsed again. He was off the field so the game went on for two more plays before the referrees realized that 4 doctors and the team trainers were administering CPR to Ronald and were using the defibrillator. As far back to my Junior High School days I can remember an ambulance being at all our home games but this past Friday night the ambulance had been called to a bad wreck. It took them approximately 15 minutes to get back to the field to get Ronald and transport him to the hospital. Ronald was pronounced dead a little later. The game was cancelled at halftime with Hartsville winning 27-7.
I did not personally know Ronald but I have a lot of connections on the team. I have coached many of these players in youth sports throughout the years and the thought of losing someone this young hit me hard. The South Carolina Gamecocks had a moment of silent prayer for Ronald on Saturday before crushing Georgia and Clemson Tigers Head Coach Dabo Swinney said he would be in contact with Hartsville Head Coach Jeff Calabrese. Crestwood announced on Monday that they would not play the rest of the game out of respect and Hartsville was given the win. These players, coaches, classmates, friends and family had to lay Ronald to rest on Wednesday. Among the crowd were at least 12 Crestwood players, many of whom got Saved after the tragedy last Friday night. Now, Hartsville, undefeated on the season, must travel to Manning to play for 1st place tonight at 7:30 with heavy hearts and a lot of questions still on their minds.
This stuff always happens elsewhere but this time it hit home with me. All the major sports outlets picked this up and it was front page news on Saturday. This included USA Today, Yahoo, ESPN, Sporting News, etc….
Here is a prayer I posted on my facebook page after learning about this on Friday night. Hopefully you will join me in praying for these young men as they TRY to pursue the State Championship without Ronald on the field with them.
Dear God, I pray our community will once again come together in another tragic loss. I pray for the family of Ronald Rouse. I pray for his teammates on the Hartsville High football team as well as his coaches. I pray for his teachers and his classmates. I lift all these up to you right now Dear Lord, asking that you wrap your arms around them and let them know that you are with them. Dear God, I know we are not promised tomorrow and I pray that we all get right with you before it’s too late. We don’t have the answers to our many questions about this tragic event but we know you do. I pray we’ll all hold our loved ones a little bit tighter tonight and we don’t forget to tell the ones we care about just how much we do LOVE them. Thank you for all you have done and all you are going to do for us. In Jesus Christ Name I pray. Amen
Check out the links below for more detailed info on this including a press release from Head Coach Jeff Calabrese. If stuff like this don’t touch your hearts something is wrong. They are many more articles written about this across the web.
http://www2.scnow.com/sports/pee-dee/2012/oct/10/5/calabrese-i-loved-ronald-rouse-ar-4726995/
Thanks and let’s win this one tonight Red Foxes!
Rocky Atkinson
Rocketman Sports
