WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — A coroner has listed head trauma as the preliminary cause of death of a college student who died after being struck during a hammer-throw event at a track-and-field meet near Chicago.
The DuPage County Coroner’s office says in a news release that it reached the preliminary finding after conducting an autopsy on the body of 19-year-old Ethan Roser.
Roser was working as a volunteer during Saturday’s meet at Wheaton College, where he was a freshman, when he was struck by an errant throw of the large metal ball attached to a steel wire called a hammer.
Wheaton Police say Roser was at the meet to measure the distance of the throws in the event and that he was standing near the field where the metal balls land when he was hit by an errant throw.
Roser’s father is remembering his son as a strong Christian.
The Rev. Mark Roser says Ethan shared his faith with others and it guided his life. Mark Roser and Ethan’s mother were missionaries and he grew up in Zimbabwe before his family moved back to the U.S.
Ethan Roser transferred to Wheaton College in January and was on the soccer team.