Youth dies after collapsing on basketball court

By Abby Sewell, reprinted from the Molalla Pioneer, Molalla, Oregon.

Logan Hines, a 15-year-old Molalla High School sophomore, died Sunday evening after collapsing during a friendly basketball game.

At about 5:30, he told a friend he was feeling dizzy. Then his knees gave out and he slumped to the ground.

He was unconscious and had no pulse when the police and paramedics arrived.; and despite repeated attempts to revive him at the scene and en route to the hospital, he never regained consciousness.

“The doctors said there was no pain,” said Bill Glover, the father of Hines’ half sister, who knew the boy from the day he was born to the day he died. “I think that’s important.”

Seth Kelly, an MHS who was on the court with Hines when he collapsed, said, “We were just playing ball. He went out to get a rebound, and he turned around and looked at me and my cousin and said, ‘I feel dizzy.’ Before I could say ‘Take a break, go get some water’ or anything, his knees collapsed and he fell down in front of me.’”

Kelly and his cousin Caleb Kirk, the third player on the court, grabbed Hines’ cell phone and tried to decide whether their first call should be to 911 or to Hines’ mother. In the end, Kirk dialed 911 and Kelly began giving their friend CPR as they waited for the police and paramedics.

Molalla police officers arrived first and began administering CPR.

Molalla and Colton firefighters and paramedics were on scene shortly thereafter. Paramedics administered shocks in an attempt to revive the boy’s heart, while police officers went to contact the family.

They continued trying to revive him as he was transported by ambulance to Molalla High School, where the LifeFlight helicopter was waiting to take him to Oregon Health and Sciences University, where he was pronounced dead.

“It was pretty traumatic for the officers on scene,” said Molalla Police Department Sgt. Jim Barnhart, who arrived at the basketball court to find two other officers giving Hines CPR. “Everything possible was done by us and the fire department, and we still couldn’t save him. … It kind of reminds you how quickly life can be taken away.”

Rockie Henderson, Hines’ mother, said her son had surgery for a congenital heart defect as a child, but had no recent history of health problems.

The family moved to Molalla two years ago from the Tri-Cities area in Washington State. Since then, Henderson said, Hines and his older brother and younger sister have found a tight community of friends.

Several dozen of them gathered on Monday after school to hold a vigil the basketball court next to the Molalla Public Library, the scene of Hines’ collapse.

“When we first talked about moving here, I didn’t know if it was the right decision,” Henderson said, looking around at the myriad faces gathered in love and mourning for her son. “But obviously it was. Just look at this.”

Jake Moore, a friend and fellow MHS sophomore, remembered meeting Hines on the first day of school their freshman year and being intimidated by his six-foot-plus stature. But he quickly found Hines to be a good hearted friend.

“That first summer, every day I was at his house or he was at my house,” Moore said. “He was the type of kid that, if you had nobody else to talk to, you could always call him. I don’t think I know anyone who does not like the kid.”

Many fellow students remembered good times on the basketball court. They remembered how he loved to send text messaged. And everyone remembered his sense of humor.

“He was a comedian,” Glover said. “Ever since he was a little tyke, he would do something to make you laugh. He was a real good kid, just a real good kid.”

The family is setting up a memorial fund at Wells Fargo. Checks can be made out to the “Contribution for the Benefit of Logan Hines” account.