Falling Log Kills Teen During Football Practice In Long Island

A high-school football practice took a fatal turn when a teen died Thursday after being struck by a log on his head during a team conditioning drill in Long Island, New York, said reports.

Joshua Mileto, an 11th-grade student at Sachem High School East in Farmingville, was participating in a strength and conditoning camp on the school grounds Thursday morning and was carrying a large log as a part of the drill along with another player.

Both of them fell, and the log “dropped and struck him,” Suffolk County cops said, according to New York Post.

The teen was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Assistant Police Commissioner Justin Meyers in a statement to Newsday.

The exercise was an effort in team building for the Sachem football team.

Carlin Schledorn, a Sachem East graduate and a football player, told NBC Connecticut about the log: "It's very big. It's like a tree, and it's a challenge for people who weightlift. Five or six people do it at once. I feel horrific for the team and coaches because I know them and they are all great men."

According to the report, Bob O’Malley, president of the New York State Athletic Trainers' Association stated the drill was used in training U.S. Navy seals. "I’ve never seen that drill in an athletic setting," O'Malley said.

The superintendent of schools for the district, Dr. Kenneth Graham, said in a statement: "The district is devastated by this horrific accident and words cannot express the grief we feel as a school community. We extend our deepest condolences to the student’s family and friends during this terribly difficult time."

He added: "We have enacted our Crisis Intervention Team and support services will be made available to students and staff for as long as needed as we mourn and try to cope with this loss. All athletic and school-related activities, as well as all community-based group activities, have been cancelled for today at all buildings district wide."

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Tom Combs, executive director of Section XI, the governing body of Suffolk High School athletics, told Newsday: “It’s a real tragic situation as a young individual has lost his life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and the Sachem district.”

The camp was cancelled as a consequence of the incident.

Newsday reported an investigation was started by the Suffolk Homicide Squad detectives into the incident as it was not a natural death. It is not known why the log was dropped, and if factors like wet grass or the weight of the log were responsible for it falling.

This is not the first time an incident like this has happened in Suffolk County. In 2014, another teen footballer, Tom Cutinella of Shoreham-Wading River High School, died after he collided with another player and collapsed during a game on Long Island.

At the time, Shoreham-Wading River School Superintendent Steven Cohen said in a statement: "Each student is a valued member of our educational community and a young person's death is always tragic. A sudden loss like this can have a profound effect on the entire school community."