The family of Virginia high school student Jayvion Taylor told Scripps News Richmond that the teen died of a heart attack during football practice Monday night.
Jayvion, a 10th-grade student who played junior varsity football for Hopewell High School, was remembered Tuesday as a "genuine and remarkable student," according to a school spokesperson.
"Our Hopewell High School staff, coaches, and the entire community continue to mourn the loss of one of our 10th-grade JV football players during practice yesterday," the statement read. "Our focus today has been to provide a space for our staff and students to grieve. We respect the privacy of the family during this time, but do want to share that this 15-year-old young man was considered one of the most genuine and remarkable students our staff have ever worked with. He was considered a 'light' to all who met him and left a lasting impact."
Classmates remembered Jayvion as funny, sweet, and kind.
"I thought he still was going to make it, and fight through this, because he’s one of the strongest people I know, I thought he was going to make it through it," Chase Stith said. "It didn’t matter who you were. If you were one of the most known people of the school, or if you were somebody who wasn’t talkative, he would try to get to know you and understand you.”
"He was straight positive, like one of the best guys I’ve ever know," teammate Orrin Besley added.
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Teammate Cory Seacat was on the field when Jayvion went down.
"I went to the back of the field and I saw everybody around here. Couldn’t get close to him. I heard it was Jay, we had to take a knee," Seacat said. They told us to get to the locker room. We just prayed."
Watch: Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry mourns Hopewell High School student Jayvion Taylor
Timeline of Events
The statement from the school went on to provide the following details about the series of events that led to Jayvion's death:
- The team was 40 minutes into football practice doing light drills
- After a water break, the student collapsed 10 feet from a coach
- Two coaches performed CPR and called 911. Paramedics arrived before AED could be used
- Paramedics provided additional medical support and transported the student to the hospital
Athletic Trainer Questions
Following the initial news of Jayvion's death, Scripps News Richmond received an email from some viewers questioning whether Hopewell High School had an athletic trainer on duty. Those viewers said a previous athletic trainer had been let go and not replaced.
The school system addressed some of those questions in its statement.
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"We have been asked about the status of athletic training," the statement read. "We completed the procurement process for securing athletic training services over the summer. The existing contract identifies August 12, 2024 as the starting date."
Hopewell School Status
Hopewell High School utilizes a balanced, or year-round, school schedule. While students in many parts of Virginia go back to school later this month, Hopewell students started school in late July.
School was canceled on Tuesday due to "air conditioning issues," but was scheduled to resume on Wednesday.
"Grief counseling will be available for all of our students when they return. Our coaches and team are about much more than just football and are devastated. We respectfully ask that the entire school community be allowed time to grieve the overwhelming loss of this remarkable young man," a statement from the school said.
This story was originally posted by Elizabeth Holmes at Scripps News Richmond.
