Heartbreak as boy, 13, collapses suddenly in the middle of football game as devastated dad pays tribute to ‘our legend’
A DEVASTATED dad has paid tribute to the family “legend” – his 13-year-old son who collapsed suddenly during a football game.
Samuel Victor Ovie Akwasi, of Nottingham, is believed to have had a “sudden cardiac death” in the middle of the match.
He tragically died a short time later in hospital, with his parents at his bedside.
An inquest into the 13-year-old’s death was opened and adjourned today, after his heartbroken dad, Tubman Akwasi, told of his grief.
Tubman said the death of Samuel is a pain he faces every day, as the teen left behind his two older siblings and a football team who “loved and respected him”.
Nottinghamshire Live reported he said: “Life will never be the same without Samuel.
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“He was very talented. He was a legend, our legend.”
Tubman said his son’s biggest dream was to become a premier league footballer and play for Nottingham Forest.
He said: “When Nottingham Forest won at Wembley I cried. He wanted to play for them one day.
“It is a tragedy that we are facing at the moment as a family. I am heartbroken.”
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Mairin Casey, Senior Coroner for Nottinghamshire, opened and adjourned today’s inquest.
The inquest heard how Samuel had been playing for FC Cavaliers U13s against WBCY FC Rossoneri on May 7, and had scored the first goal of the match around noon.
But, he suddenly collapsed at the Forest Recreation Ground.
Dvarne Edwards, a sports assistant at the Forest Sports Zone, a separate sports facility at The Forest with artificial pitches, had said he “ran over straight away” after he saw the boy collapsed on the grass, near a tree.
Mr Edwards explained the boy received treatment and that an ambulance arrived within minutes, rushing him to hospital.
Miss Casey told the city’s Council House: “He was aged just 13 years at the time of his death and he died at the Queen’s Medical Centre.”
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She said a post-mortem examination was conducted, and the provisional cause of death given by a pathologist was “sudden cardiac death with a morphologically normal heart”.
The final hearing, where more details will be heard and a conclusion on the cause of death, is set to take place on March 22, and is expected to go for three days.