Philadelphia high school football player collapses, dies after practice

La Salle College High School football player Isaiah Turner collapsed and died following his team’s Friday practice, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

He was 17.

Turner was rushed to Chestnut Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead, La Salle’s director or marketing and public relations, Chris Carabello, told The Inquirer.

The 6-foot-5, 300 pounder also played basketball for La Salle, The Inquirer reported, and was “a top athlete with an engaging personality and admired by everyone around the all-boys’ school in Wyndmoor.”

Carbello told The Inquirer that Turner was “a tough kid not to love.”

The newspaper reported that Turner was honored during a memorial service outside of the school Saturday, and members of Pennsylvania’s high school football community took to Twitter to send their thoughts and prayers to the program and Turner’s family.

“He was such a happy kid,” La Salle senior lineman Ryan Wills told The Inquirer. “Everybody called him a ‘gentle giant.’ He was so big he could barely fit through the doorway, and then he was the nicest kid.”

According to The Inquirer, Turner complained to a teammate of a “pain or cramp” in his leg following the team’s early-afternoon practice. It said he asked a teammate to go bring a car closer to the field, and when the teammate returned, Turner was collapsed.

Paramedics were called and he was rushed to the hospital.

The Inquirer said Turner was a starting defensive tackle for La Salle who had the potential to play in college.