The unexpected death of a 15-year-old hockey player has sent shivers down the spines of hockey parents across the region.
Tyler Kerr died early Monday morning after collapsing and suffering cardiac arrest during a hockey game at an arena in Carp Sunday night. Kerr's relatives say he was a healthy teenaged boy; and that he had no known health conditions.
Hockey dad James Barbeau says he was shocked to hear what happened. He says most consider injury part of the game but that this really has him worried.
"We hear about hockey accidents – broken necks, broken legs, slashed wrists – but then you hear he's just skating around the ice and a young guy has a heart attack, now I'm concerned," said Barbeau.
Doctors at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario told CTV they're not sure if there is a need for widespread concern. This tragedy was likely unpreventable.
Sudden heart failure is rare but it does happen.
Last year a 16-year-old basketball star from Michigan died from an enlarged heart after scoring a game-winning basket. NFL player Damien Nash unexpectedly died when he was 24 due to heart-related problems
J.P. Trottier with Ottawa's paramedic service says the response by those at the arena was correct and echoes the idea that there was likely nothing anyone could have done.
"It always makes you think for a minute," says hockey mom Brianne Rossi. "But you can't live in a bubble. Anything could happen. They could get hurt walking down the street or playing out in the yard."
Most parents CTV spoke to say, though they are scared, they won't be taking their kids out of the game.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Ellen Mauro
