College football player from Georgia dies after collapsing at practice, school says
A college student from Georgia died after he collapsed during a team football practice, his school said.
Quandarius Wilburn, 19, was at preseason conditioning on Sunday when he was rushed away in an ambulance, Virginia Union University said in a letter obtained by multiple media outlets.
Wilburn later died at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, a hospital in Richmond, WRIC reported.
Virginia Union in a statement said it was “heartbroken” about the death of a student-athlete.
“Our primary concern is the well-being of the family and fellow students impacted by this tragedy,” the statement said, according to WWBT. “Virginia Union stands ready to provide support in any way necessary and available as families and students work to process this devastating loss.”
Wilburn was a college freshman who joined the Virginia Union team as a defensive end after he played for Jefferson County High School in Louisville, Georgia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
“Great character kid, worked his tail off,” J.B. Arnold, a coach at the high school roughly 150 miles southeast of Atlanta, told the newspaper. “Never complained. Did whatever we asked him. Didn’t miss a practice.”
In its letter, Virginia Union reportedly said the Panthers’ football team had gone to church together and eaten meals earlier on the day of Wilburn’s death.
Virginia Union is a private, historically Black university that has 1,070 undergraduate students, according to the U.S. Department of Education. A school spokesperson didn’t immediately share details about Wilburn’s death with McClatchy News on Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 11:28 AM with the headline "College football player from Georgia dies after collapsing at practice, school says."
