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14-Year-Old Collapses, Dies During Football Practice in Bronx, Police Say

By Ben Fractenberg | August 22, 2017 4:47pm
 A 14-year-old boy collapsed and died after a football practice at Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx Tuesday morning, school officials said.
A 14-year-old boy collapsed and died after a football practice at Mount Saint Michael Academy in The Bronx Tuesday morning, school officials said.
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THE BRONX — A 14-year-old boy died after collapsing during a non-contact football practice at a private Bronx school Tuesday morning, according to police and school officials.

Freshman Dominick Bess had just finished running sprints when he collapsed in the sports fields behind Mount Saint Michael Academy off Nereid Avenue in Wakefield at about 9:30 a.m., an NYPD spokesman said.

Bess was treated on campus before being transported to Montefiore Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to police and the school.

The young man collapsed ahead of a heat advisory for Tuesday afternoon, with temperatures soaring into the upper 90s with humidity factored in.

Police were investigating the Bess’s death and said the medical examiner would determine his cause of death. 

A 16-year-old Staten Island high school football player collapsed and died during a practice on Sept. 1, 2014. His family later sued the city, claiming emergency workers did not give him "adequate" care. 

School officials said they would provide grief counselors for students.  

"Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, as well as coaches, the team and our student-athletes," school administrators said in a statement.