A coroner’s inquest began today into the death of a young Ottawa rugby player. 17-year-old Rowan Stringer suffered a fatal brain injury two years ago, days after striking her head on the high school field.

Rowan may not have been in court today but her text messages tell the story of what happened in the days and hours leading up to that fatal tackle. Those text messages were read at the inquest. 

Rowan Stringer was a powerhouse on the field the captain of John McCrae’s high school rugby team.

May 8, 2013 she was tackled hard, whacked her head and neck. Her childhood friend Michelle Hebert was watching that game. She testified at the coroner’s inquest.

‘When they took her away in the ambulance,’ says Hebert, ‘I went home and thought “Oh, Rowan's in the hospital, we'll hear about it later.’

But Rowan never regained consciousness.  In a series of eerie text messages between Rowan and her friend Michelle Hebert, Rowan describes her fear that she's got a brain injury.

 "I might have gotten a concussion...have a headache again," Rowan writes on May 7th, the day before the game.

Michelle answers: "Are you still gonna play Wednesday?"

Rowan replies "Yeah! Nothing can stop meeee! Unless I'm dead..."

‘I wish we had done something about it,’ Hebert told reporters outside the inquest, ‘told coaches or parents, someone who actually could impact what she did because our opinions, we weren't an authority.

We didn't have any say in what she did.’

The counsel for the coroner, Mark Moors, played in the CFL and suffered concussions himself.  He says this inquest is key to ensuring policies are place to prevent another tragedy like this.

‘If you don't bring in those safeguards,’ says Moors, ‘and don't have those assurances for parents, then sports like football won't survive; parents will say I don't want my kid playing football.’

His first witness by phone was former CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan who now promotes concussion awareness after receiving 2 to 3 concussions, he says, every single game in his CFL career. His message was that kids need to disclose if they are hurt.

‘I’m a fierce competitor and I know Rowan was, too,’ said Dunigan, ‘In the long run, it's not about winning or losing but being healthy in life.’

There is so much life, so much promise, in a memorial video posted on Facebook by Rowan's mother.  Kathleen Stringer told reporters today that the inquest, the focus on her life is a way to help people remember that "kid who died playing high school rugby."

‘When they think of it, they will know she had great potential,’ says Kathleen Stringer, ‘she was a good person and that it shouldn't have happened and can be prevented.’

Kathleen Stringer will be the first witness on the stand tomorrow as the inquest continues.  It is expected to last a couple of weeks with the jury's recommendations coming after that.