Football Player Dies While Weightlifting
POSTED: 8:51 am CDT July 10, 2007
UPDATED: 12:54 pm CDT July 10, 2007
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RICHMOND, Texas -- A teenager was killed in a freak accident while lifting weights, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Department announced Monday.
Deputies said Cameron Michael Shaub, 16, was lifting weights alone at his home when a 240-pound barbell fell on his throat on Friday.
Cameron's father found his son's lifeless 195-pound body on his weight bench.
"It's a terrible way to find your son," David Shaub said.
A preliminary autopsy showed Cameron died from asphyxiation due to compression of the larynx. He did not suffer a fractured or broken neck.
"I assume that probably the reason that he couldn't get it off was because it hit him right in the trachea and it just immediately cut off his oxygen supply," Shaub said.
Cameron played on Foster High School's varsity football team and worked out daily. Shaub said his son had been told to reduce the amount of weight he lifted while he was alone.
"It's just not worth it," Shaub said. "If you want to improve yourself, then you should be doing that with all the safeguards in place. That would be having a spotter."
Cameron's death has been a tough lesson for his teammates.
"You wish you had 50 like Cameron," Coach Mark Wiatrek said. "That's the one thing I'm going to do is to preach to them, 'Guys, just understand what can happen so be careful.'"
Shaub said he hopes to talk to Cameron's teammates about the dangers of weightlifting before football practice begins in August.
A visitation will be held Tuesday at the First Presbyterian Church from 7 to 9 p.m. His funeral is set for Wednesday at 11 a.m.
