Lugo, who was 6-foot and 180-pounds and played as a middle and open linebacker position for the Wallkill High School Boys Varsity Football team, according to the website Hudl, may have been moved to the free safety position, according to USA Today.
Family members are grieving the tragic loss of a 17-year-old high school football player from upstate New York who died unexpectedly after routine football practice, according to a report.
Miguel Antonio Lugo suffered a medical emergency following the first day of practice and was transported to the hospital, where he later died, according to a statement from the Wallkill Central High School District, USA Today reported.
Lugo, who stood 6-foot and weighed 180 pounds, played as a middle and open linebacker position for the Wallkill High School Boys Varsity Football team, according to the website Hudl. He may have been moved to the free safety position, according to USA Today.
His cause of death has not yet been determined, the news outlet reported.
Family members are overcome by grief and do not understand how the young athletic young man could die so suddenly.
“Why Miguel?” the teenager’s aunt Angela Morales wrote on a GoFundMe page that was set up to help raise money for funeral expenses. She described her nephew as a person with a “heart of gold" whose presence “lit up a room,” and someone who was “dearly loved” by all who knew him.
"We will never know why the Lord took him home so soon, clearly he needed an angel so he took one of the best," Morales wrote on the GoFundMe campaign, which had raised nearly $40,000 by Friday afternoon, surpassing their initial goal of $10,000.
On Tuesday, The Wallkill Central School District issued a statement on Twitter, expressing their condolences and their unspeakable loss.
”Heartbreak and tragedy facing our community with the passing of senior Miguel Lugo," the district's athletics wrote. "Deepest condolences to Miguel's family. His kindness and compassion for others were always on display, and his charming smile will forever be missed in our halls.”
David Coates, chairman of New York's Section 9 football committee, expressed sympathy over Lugo’s passing and sent prayers to the Lugo family and the community, People Magazine reported.
“You hate to see it happen to anybody, but being so young, Miguel had his whole life ahead of him,” Coates said.
He added: “Just sad, an extremely sad day for Section 9 football.’’
On Lugo’s Facebook page, where the words, “Life is a rollercoaster,” is posted under his name, photos are posted of the young athlete smiling through the years with friends and family, as well as images that depict his love of football.
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