Owen Coyne, Marblehead High School football captain and standout athlete dies from sudden brain hemorrhage. Massachusetts star player’s mom Angela Paradise said her son started experiencing severe headaches a week after Marblehead’s first game of the season.
A Massachusetts local community has been left reeling following the death of a 17-year-old high school student athlete who died following a sudden brain hemorrhage.
Owen Coyne, a senior at Marblehead High School, died on October 1. His mother said the brain hemorrhage was not caused by an impact or injury sustained while playing football.
‘This is a sad day for our Marblehead community, and we ask that you send positive thoughts and prayers to the Coyne family and Owen’s friends during this difficult time,’ Marblehead Public Schools Superintendent John J. Robidoux said in a statement according to WBZ-TV.
Star player and athlete started experiencing severe headaches at start of football season
Speaking to the outlet, Angela Paradise said her son started experiencing severe headaches a week after Marblehead’s first game of the season against Lynn English on Sept. 10. Coyne spent two weeks in the hospital before he died on Thursday. Doctors told Paradise the hemorrhage was caused by a freak anomaly in Coyne’s brain.
It remained unclear if the star player had experienced severe impact during initial games and what treatment school officials offered the athlete. Officials didn’t state whether the player had suffered any concussions on the field.
Studies show repetitive hits cause brain cell loss, inflammation, and blood vessel damage.
Coyne was a standout three-sport athlete who competed in football, baseball and indoor track. He played wide receiver and safety for Marblehead and was selected as a co-captain of the football team. He also competed in baseball and track and field, where he established himself as one of the school’s top athletes.
During the previous indoor track season, Coyne came within one jump of winning a state championship in the high jump. His track coach also described him as one of the top sprinters and high jumpers in Marblehead High School history.
Marblehead rising star
Coyne had planned to attend Williams College after graduating from Marblehead High School. His family had visited the college, met with the coaching staff and players, and believed he had found the place where he wanted to continue the next chapter of his life.
Paradise, remembered her son as kind, humble and positive, saying he made a lasting impression on the people around him. Coyne was also a brother to Grady, Landon and Ella.
Outside of school athletics, Coyne enjoyed boating and sailing, worked as a sailing instructor and was a longtime member of the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead.
His sudden death has brought an outpouring of grief throughout the community. A Marblehead football game against Danvers was canceled following his death, while students and athletes gathered to honor him, including at a girls’ field hockey game where supporters wore shirts featuring Coyne’s No. 18.
The Williams football program also mourned the loss of the teenager they had been preparing to welcome to campus.
Coyne, an organ donor, is expected to help save the lives of five people with the donation of six organs.
‘His life was not wasted, he was a gift to us and he was a gift to Marblehead, but now he’s been able to take his life and gift it to others,’ Coyne’s mom said.
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