UCSD vaulter Leon Roach dies from rope vault injury

[rainbowgirl28]

Fox 5 is reporting he passed away. They interviewed his sister, rather lengthy video clip here: http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-u ... 0770.story

They say he overshot the landing pad and that he was an organ donor.

[altius]

Hope we will find out exactly what happened in this tragic situation - it just seems a strange time of the year to be doing anything that might lead a vaulter to overshoot the pad - if that is what actually occcured.

[VTechVaulter]

Official update:

I talked to Kevin Magula (Leon's old HS coach) and he told me that Leon has not passed away, but is effectively brain dead and is on a respirator. They're finalizing tests to be certain, but it sounds like its just a matter of time before they pull the plug. He said his chances are 0% of recovery (I'd put them higher since they're still doing tests, but for all intents and purposes...zero).

As for the accident, apparently they were rope vaulting. They had the HJ pit set up over the LJ pit and had a rope (I think?) from a tree and a ~8' bunjee. He basically missed the pit and hit his head on surrounding concrete.

I'll post if I hear of any (official) updates.

This is horribly sad and my heart goes out to the friends and family of this young man. As time passes this incident needs to be further examined so coaches/future coaches and vaulters alike can prevent a tragedy like this from occuring

[rainbowgirl28]

A similar accident happened to Chip Heuser about two years ago (but he survived). Worth a read: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=13936

[kev44000]

Why do rope drills????? This is the fourth accident with one death I know of because of a rope drill. There are plenty of other drills to do.

[rainbowgirl28]

Why do rope drills????? This is the fourth accident with one death I know of because of a rope drill. There are plenty of other drills to do.

Let's have a discussion of that question here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=18482

[Bubba PV]

Very sad news. He went to Marina in HB so he had great coaching there with Kevin Magula, and I'm sure he did at UCSD too. So sorry for the loss. Bubba

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-b ... FORM=ZZNR9

UCSD A college pole vaulter has died after missing the landing pad during practice at the University of California, San Diego's La Jolla campus.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office says 19-year-old Leon Roach landed head first on concrete during a training jump Saturday.

Roach immediately became unresponsive, according to the coroner's report.

He was pronounced brain dead at a hospital. An autopsy is pending.

A memorial service will be held this week in Huntington Beach, where Roach graduated from Marina High School.

[TrackCEO]

It's official from the Medical Examiner's Office in San Diego:
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/b ... _acci.html

What a tragic loss, especially for someone bright enough to attend an elite academic school.

Ken

[Bruce Caldwell]

In what appeared to be a freak accident, Roach’s sister said her 19-year-old brother had driven down to UC San Diego to practice with his track team Thursday, when her family got the call he’d been injured during a routine rope swing drill.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/leon-roach-huntington-2554378-beach-pole

Sad story I am sorry for the family
ESSX

[vaultmd]

It's official from the Medical Examiner's Office in San Diego:
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/b ... _acci.html

What a tragic loss, especially for someone bright enough to attend an elite academic school.

Ken

You got that right. The vault coach is a tenured professor in with a Ph.D. in pulmonary physiology.

[Bubba PV]

Can someone get me Kevin Magula's email? My brother and I used to hang out with his dad and Paul Richards in the late 70s. My brother is in Afghanistan and called today after seeing the news online, wanting to get in touch with Leon Sr. Thanks! Bubba

[vaultphd]

To the vault community,

I have not wanted to post due to the sadness associated with this accident.....

I coached Leon last year when he was a freshman at UCSD. Leon was one of the nicest and sweetest human beings on this planet. In addition, he had the heart and soul of a vaulter. He loved the vault.

vaultmd mentioned me in a post, so I wanted to post and say that I was not going to coach for this coming year, and I was not there at the time of this accident.

If there is some way to pass on condolences to the family, please do so. They are a vault family to the core.

Mike Hogan