Cause of death released for Southwest High football player who collapsed after practice
The death of a 15-year-old Southwest High School football player who collapsed at practice in late July was the result of an “abnormal heart rhythm” and not heat-related, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said Thursday.
Joshua Ivory Jr. died July 26 after suffering what officials at the time described as “a medical emergency” at the Macon school’s Williamson Road campus.
Jones said that on Thursday he received a GBI medical examiner’s autopsy report on Ivory’s death, which said the teenager’s cause of death was cardiac dysrhythmia which triggered “sudden cardiac arrest.”
The coroner said Ivory suffered from an “abnormal heart rhythm that sent him into cardiac arrest.”
The Bibb County School District conducted a review of all outdoor activity protocols following Ivory’s death. Bibb County Superintendent Dr. Curtis Jones said the school took extra precautions beyond those required by Georgia High School Association’s (GHSA) standards for outdoor practices.
Southwest High School football coach Joe Dupree and his staff recognized that Ivory Jr. was in distress and immediately called 911, according to Bibb County Athletic Director Barney Hester. The coaches are CPR and first aid certified.
Dupree was placed on administrative leave in August as the school district investigated the incident, and was reinstated less than a week later.
The GBI Crime Lab conducted Ivory’s autopsy, which is standard procedure in the death of an otherwise healthy person.
Jones, the school superintendent, in a statement on Thursday said, “It’s good to get the results back, but this is still a sad day because a family has lost a loved one. Our thoughts continue to be with the family of Joshua Ivory.”
Telgraph reporter Justin Baxley contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 4, 2021 at 1:16 PM.