A 16-year-old who collapsed and died during soccer practice Saturday had an abnormal artery in his heart, officials with Atlanta Fire United Soccer Club said Wednesday.
Michael Jones of Gwinnett County was practicing with the club when he collapsed suddenly, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
Coach Justin Mathews performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, but Jones was pronounced dead at the hospital, Mathews said.
A family friend, Danett Richardson, told The AJC she’d known Jones since he was 6 and started playing youth football with her son, Jalen Richardson.
“They became fast friends because they were the two smallest kids on the football team,” Richardson said.
The boys traded football for soccer a few years later and “Mike fell in love with soccer,” she said.
Richardson described Jones as full of energy and the type of athlete who could run full-speed up Stone Mountain and be ready to go again when he reached the bottom.
Her son is in disbelief over his friend’s death.
“He doesn’t know how to take that,” she said.
His parents, Mary Jones and Prescott Jones, and his sister, Keisha, said in a YouCaring post that Michael “was truly a joy with an infectious smile.”
His family said Jones had plans to study engineering and robotics at Clemson University and was a mentee of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.
Jones was also a member of Berean Christian Church in Snellville, where a viewing will take place Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and a funeral is set for Saturday, family friend Nicole Henderson said.
A Gwinnett County Schools official said grief counselors would be available for students returning to school.
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