Coroner: SC Player Died from Heart Condition

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Story Created: Oct 6, 2012 at 1:20 PM EDT

Story Updated: Oct 6, 2012 at 4:31 PM EDT

HARTSVILLE, S.C. (AP) --A coroner says a South Carolina high school football player died as a result of a sudden irregular heartbeat brought on because he was born with an enlarged heart.

Darlington County Coroner J. Todd Hardee said after an autopsy Saturday that 18-year-old Ronald Rouse died of natural causes.

Rouse was a 6-foot-3, 320-pound lineman for Hartsville High School who collapsed during the second quarter of the team's homecoming game against Crestwood. Hardee says Rouse collapsed after calling a time out.

The Darlington County School District said a volunteer rescue squad that usually provides emergency medical services at Hartsville home football games were not there Friday. School officials say Rouse was treated by four physicians and two athletic trainers, who used a defibrillator to try shocking his heart.

Copyright The Associated Press



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