A 13-year-old boy collapsed while playing soccer at a field in Drayton on Wednesday, and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
The boy was part of a visiting team from Wallace, playing against a squad from Drayton at the Mapleton Soccer Field in Riverside Park.
Shortly before 8 p.m., he suffered some sort of medical emergency.
Bystanders – including members of the fire department setting up for a fireworks display nearby– rushed to help.
They began performing CPR, and the firefighters had a defibrillator with them. Despite their efforts, the boy was pronounced dead in hospital.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of this young player,” Wallace Minor Soccer president Tabatha Rozema said Thursday.
“The loss affects our whole community.”
Grief counselling services are being made available for the Wallace team, as well as their opponents from Drayton – many of whom knew and were friends with the boy – and the firefighters who responded to the park.
“You cannot prepare anybody for this kind of thing happening,” said Mapleton fire chief Rick Richardson.
Wellington County OPP say they continue to investigate the boy’s death, in concert with the coroner’s office.
The boy’s name has not been made public.
