Senior dies days after collapsing at club game
When Michael Santiago collapsed during a rugby match Sunday in Fredericksburg, Va., an ambulance was quickly summoned. At Mary Washington Hospital on Thursday, Santiago was pronounced dead.
It is uncertain whether Santiago, a senior at Paul VI, died of a previous injury or a pre-existing condition. In the rugby match, he went to one knee at the end of a play on which he did not sustain contact. A coach and two players carried Santiago off the field, and he had convulsions.
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None of Santiago’s teammates noticed him hurt earlier in the game. The match was in the second half when Santiago collapsed.
Santiago competed for the Fairfax Police Youth Club Jaguars, made up of players from a variety of high schools. On Sunday, the Jaguars played a team from Mary Washington College.
When the team visited Santiago in the hospital on Monday night, he was on life support. When players returned Tuesday night, there was no change in his condition. The team practiced for the first time Wednesday, then received the tragic news Thursday afternoon.
“Michael was a fighter. We had hope right up until the end,” said teammate Peter Lengyel, a senior at O’Connell.
Attempts to reach Jaguars coach Bill Brownley and FPYC rugby director Frederic Bardot were unsuccessful. An official for the club said it was withholding comment until it talked to the family. Santiago had an older sister.
Lengyel recalled a rainy practice last week when Santiago and other players stayed afterward and played touch football, splashing in the rain.
“He was one of the happiest people I knew,” Lengyel said. “He was so much fun to be with. He had a way of making everyone around him feel like a million dollars.”
