Connors State College, a junior college in Warner, Oklahoma, was playing a game last Saturday afternoon (Nov. 22) about 160 miles away at Grayson College in Denison, Texas. Connors State player, 6'8" forward Ethan Dietz, a sophomore who is one of Connors State's best players, was accidentally struck in the head by an opponent's elbow early in the 2nd half (see video linked below). He was clearly stunned and came out of the game briefly, but then returned and continued playing. But he repeatedly held his head, shook his head and appeared to still be feeling the effect of the head injury. Several minutes later, he asked to come out of the game again, and sat on the end of the bench with a towel over his head. He remained there nearly motionless with the towel over his head the rest of the game, where it appears he was ignored. He did not even get up for team huddles or for the post-game handshake. After everyone else had left the court, he was helped to the locker room and made the 2½ hour trip back to the Connors State campus with the team. Little information has been released about the hours following the injury, but much later that night, at 9:16 pm, a 911 call was placed about an "unresponsive person" on the Connors State campus. EMS personnel responded and took him by ambulance to a Tulsa hospital about an hour away from the campus. Three days later, on Tuesday morning (Nov. 25), it was announced by Connors State that Dietz had died from the injury.
Video from KNWA TV news on Wednesday, Nov. 26, with a pretty good summary of what happened- www.x.com/mistiiprod/status/1994236185468620898
Statement from Connors State- www.x.com/CSCMBB/status/1993431975089389927
Most likely, he was suffering from some kind of a slow bleed in his brain or between the inner skull and brain that gradually built up pressure with worsening effects. Even with the medical care he received at the hospital, the many hours of delay likely caused irreversible brain damage. The school has not released any information, other than the statement mentioned in the video above, and in the post on X.com linked above. But there has been mounting criticism for the lack of attention initially and the many hours of delay before medical attention was received after the injury. The game started at 4 pm, so the injury probably happened somewhere before 5 pm, and the game would have ended around 6 pm. The 911 call was made at 9:16 pm, after the team was back on the Connors State campus, and another hour or more would have elapsed before he would have arrived at the Tulsa hospital. So at least 5 hours and probably 6 or more hours likely elapsed between the injury and the first point where proper medical attention would have been available to him.
Video from KNWA TV news on Wednesday, Nov. 26, with a pretty good summary of what happened- www.x.com/mistiiprod/status/1994236185468620898
Statement from Connors State- www.x.com/CSCMBB/status/1993431975089389927
Most likely, he was suffering from some kind of a slow bleed in his brain or between the inner skull and brain that gradually built up pressure with worsening effects. Even with the medical care he received at the hospital, the many hours of delay likely caused irreversible brain damage. The school has not released any information, other than the statement mentioned in the video above, and in the post on X.com linked above. But there has been mounting criticism for the lack of attention initially and the many hours of delay before medical attention was received after the injury. The game started at 4 pm, so the injury probably happened somewhere before 5 pm, and the game would have ended around 6 pm. The 911 call was made at 9:16 pm, after the team was back on the Connors State campus, and another hour or more would have elapsed before he would have arrived at the Tulsa hospital. So at least 5 hours and probably 6 or more hours likely elapsed between the injury and the first point where proper medical attention would have been available to him.
