UCSD vaulter Leon Roach dies from rope vault injury

[master]

My condolences to the family and friends that are grieving the loss of this young man.
.......

It seems unfortunate that the press does not seem to be differentiating rope vaulting from pole vaulting in their reporting. (Maybe they don't know there is a difference.) This is especially true if the pit that was being used for the rope vaulting was not a full size vaulting pit. I'm afraid this will leave an undeserved negative impression with the general public about the safety of pole vaulting.

- master

[old vaulter]

To all who had the pleasure to meet Leon, They truly know what a tragedy this is. I coach in the San Diego area and My son is also a vaulter at close to the same skill level that Leon Had achieved. My son Jeremy had the opportunity to jump with and compete against Leon earlier this summer at a series of competitions here in san diego. This really has hit home in our household for a number of reasons, A bright young man is gone for no apparent reason and we recently had spent time with him laughing at a meet... Leon was truly a Pole Vaulter by all descriptions, It was obvoius he loved it and enjoyed the time spent with other vaulters giving a hand when needed to catch a step or a pole. Mike Hogan told me he saw his mom at every meet while at UCSD and my thoughts go immediately to his brother and dad, both vaulters I understand,as well as his mom and the rest of his family at this tragic loss. Leon will remain in our minds as a reminder of how precious our life is and to always to do what we can to make our own little vault community proud of who we are and how we achieve our goals in life. Gone far too early, but hopefully remembered for a long time to come by all

Mike

[rainbowgirl28]

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

Mike, thanks for sharing with us. We're all so sorry for your loss.


I hope someone posts memorial service info as there are a lot of people in that area who visit this site and might not otherwise know.

[dafox]

I read that a memorial will be this Saturday at 5pm in huntington beach. Location isn't set yet from what I know.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... wD9AIPK7O0

CA family mourns pole vaulter who died at practice

By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON (AP) – 4 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — The University of California San Diego pole vaulter who died after hitting his head during practice followed family tradition by becoming a pole vaulter and died doing what he loved, his sister said Monday.

Leon Roach, 19, fell and hit his head on a cement floor Thursday during a practice drill on a rope swing at the La Jolla campus. He died at a hospital Saturday afternoon.

"There were two spotters, and they had mats," said his sister, Christyn Hendrick of Huntington Beach. "It was just the upper half of his body that didn't make it. His head hit the ground, and he went straight to heaven. The doctors said he was gone instantly because of the brain damage."

Hendrick, 27, said her family takes comfort in the fact that Roach went peacefully and died doing what he loved. His organs were donated, according to his wishes.

She added that the family doesn't blame anyone for the accident. Pole vaulting — like motorcycle touring, horseback riding and other activities Roach and his close-knit family enjoyed — carries inherent risks, Hendrick said.

Roach's father was a pole vaulter, and his older brother made it to state finals in high school.

"It's not something where you think you might die every time you go up to vault. We don't live our lives scared to do things like that," she said. "This is the normal risk of everyday life. We each have so many days, and the Lord decided that was his time."

Roach and his brother Curtis Hendrick had the same personal best height of 15 feet, 4 inches, Marina High School track coach Dick Degen told the Orange County Register.
Degen choked up remembering his former student. He said Roach was a scholar-athlete who wanted to be a neurologist.

"He was a very driven athlete. You could see that from the first day," Degen said.

The San Diego County medical examiner's office said an autopsy would determine the cause of death.

UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Athletics Director Earl Edwards issued a joint statement Friday.

"Words cannot begin to express our sorrow," the statement said. "Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this remarkable student and valued member of the UC San Diego community."

University officials were not available for further comment Monday.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/leon ... beach-pole

Huntington Beach pole vaulter dies in 'freak accident'
Leon Roach, 19, of UC San Diego, was Marina High graduate.
By MARLA JO FISHER
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Comments 25 | Recommend 10
An autopsy will investigate what led to the death of Huntington Beach pole vaulter Leon T. Roach III, who died Saturday from injuries sustained when he missed a practice mat and hit his head on concrete.

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.

Classes hadn’t started yet, and Roach was still living with his parents in Huntington Beach, but he drove down periodically to practice, his sister said.

“He wasn’t even pole vaulting,” sister Christyn Hendrick said about Thursday’s accident. “Most of his body hit the mat, but his head hit the cement and he stopped breathing.”

Roach, 19, graduated last year from Marina High School and came from a family where pole vaulting was a tradition. His father, Leon Roach II, was involved in the sport in college, and his older brother, Curtis Hendrick, was also a success at Marina.

The family was so tight-knit, Christyn Hendrick said, that during the UC school year, her brother came home on the train from La Jolla every Friday to spend the weekend, and returned on Monday morning.

The brothers even boasted the exact same personal best height: 15’ 4”, and both made it into the state competition their senior years, veteran Marina track coach Dick Degen said.

Degen choked up in a telephone interview Sunday about his former student’s death. He said Roach was not only a good athlete but a top student.

“He was a very driven athlete, you could see that from the first day,” Degen recalled. “He was a great young human being.”

The San Diego County medical examiner’s office said an autopsy was pending to determine the cause of death.

UC San Diego officials were not immediately available for comment Sunday. On Friday, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and Athletics Director Earl Edwards issued a two-paragraph joint statement saying that “words cannot begin to express our sorrow. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this remarkable student and valued member of the UC San Diego community.”

Christyn Hendrick said her family has been sustained by their Christian faith, and the knowledge that the young man they called “LeLe” didn’t appear to have suffered.

“He was gone instantly, which was a comfort to our family,” she said. “He landed on the mat, and went to heaven.”

The family said private goodbyes to him Friday, she said, while Scripps La Jolla Hospital did not declare him officially brain-dead until Saturday, at which time his organs were removed for transplantation.

Hendrick said the decision to allow the transplants was made because of her brother’s interest in science, and his desire to become a neurologist someday.

A memorial service is planned for 5 p.m. Saturday, she said, with the location yet to be announced.

Hendrick said her family has been amazed at the outpouring of wishes from friends, and that her brother was “super smart” and “wise beyond his years.”

“He seemed to so much impact on everybody,” she said. “We never even knew. He was an old soul.”

[rainbowgirl28]

A nice video interview with the family here:

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/watch/?wa ... &src=front

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.10news.com/news/20759602/detail.html

SAN DIEGO, -- Results of an autopsy were released Monday for a University of California, San Diego pole vaulter who died after hitting his head on the ground when he missed the protective padding while landing a jump.

According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, 19-year-old Leon Roach died of blunt impact injury of the head.

Roach, of Huntington Beach, was pronounced dead at 5 p.m. Saturday at Scripps La Jolla Hospital.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ed/?sports

UCSD vaulter remembered as one who lived 'rich' life
By Don Norcross
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
sosd-sections
9:53 p.m. September 8, 2009

SAN DIEGO – Léon Roach spoke French. He was a college athlete. He motorcycled from Mexico to Canada. He played the guitar and piano.

“His life was so rich,” said Roach's half-brother, Curtis Hendrick. “He had so many adventures that we really don't feel like he missed out on anything.”

Roach, 19, hit his head on a broad cement walkway during a pole-vaulting drill Thursday at UC San Diego. He died at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla on Saturday.

Roach, who was born and raised in Huntington Beach, came from a family of vaulters. His father cleared 16 feet, 8¾ inches in the 1970s and aspired to compete in the Olympics.

Hendrick and Roach both cleared 15 feet, 4 inches at Marina High, and tied for second best in school history. Both competed in the state track and field championships.

On Thursday, Roach and other UCSD vaulters were taking part in a drill near the track under the supervision of an assistant coach. The vaulters hung a rope over a tree and practiced hanging in the upside down and U-shaped pike position when vaulters clear the bar.

Roach fell from the rope and hit his head on the concrete walkway, missing padded foam mats. Roach, who did not wear a helmet in competition, was not wearing one during the drill.

MaryAnn Roach said doctors told her that her son was instantly brain dead. The family emphatically stated it does not hold UCSD responsible for Léon's death.

“We don't want anybody to lose their job over this,” MaryAnn Roach said. “We believe the Lord knows our number of days and this wasn't an accident. It happened. This is life. I ride horses, and I know people have died riding horse. But I'm not going to stop riding horses.”

Hendrick saw the scene where the drill took place and said he thought it was safe.

“I've done 30 to 40 other things that were a hundred times more dangerous,” Hendrick said. “(Léon) was here. And he was doing what he loved, then he was gone.”

Family and friends remembered Roach as a devout Christian, a dedicated student and someone who was modest despite his accomplishments.

“He was a trendsetter,” said Scott Baxter, a college student who knew Roach since they were in kindergarten. “Everything he did, everyone else wanted to do. I'd come home from his house wanting to play guitar and ride dirt bikes. My mom would get really mad at me for that.”

Baxter said that when Roach graduated from high school he received many pins for academic and athletic achievements but he wouldn't wear them on his robe.

“He didn't want other people to feel they weren't as good as him,” Baxter said.

Said MaryAnn Roach, “His walk with the Lord was No. 1, and No. 2, he felt like education and being intelligent was very important.”

Roach was majoring in neuroscience. His goal was to become a neurologist.

A celebration of life in Roach's honor is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the Waterfront Hilton in Huntington Beach. UCSD Athletic Director Dr. Earl Edwards said the university is arranging for buses to transport students to the celebration.

“I feel like we lost a member of the Triton family,” Edwards said. “It's a very close department between coaches, staff and student-athletes. My heart goes out to the family and friends.”

[rainbowgirl28]

Leon's mom gave me permission to post an email she sent out earlier:

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am overwhelmed by how many people Lele's life touched and all the love and support they are sending our way. This is something, as a mother, that I would never think I could live through. I am so close to my children...in fact the whole family was unusually close. That being said...we are surprisingly doing okay.

We have always had the Lord as the center of our family and now when we need Him most He is caring us through this painful time. Our faith is now even stronger in seeing this miracle of peace and comfort He is giving us. Lele was a great athlete, incredibly smart, and very handsome..but more then all that he loved God and wanted to be a witness to all around him. Now we see his life touching more people for God then he ever could alive. This would make him so happy. The only way this family is surviving is by the knowledge that Lele is with the Lord now and we will all follow and be together again.

Also, we just found out yesterday that Lele's organs saved 5 lives. One of which was a mother who gave birth and it damaged her heart..so now she gets to live to raise her baby and that baby gets to have a mom all because of Lele.....his kidneys saved a 8yr old boy and a 50yr old women who was on dialysis for 7yrs waiting for a kidney. Not to mention all the others. So thank you again for your email...MaryAnn Roach

PS..a lot of people are asking what they can do. Lele's wish would be that people would just consider God and see for themselves that He is real.

MaryAnn Roach
Mother of Leon Raoch

And she wanted to add:

My husband also wanted to add that we in no way blame the UCSD track staff. They have a wonderful program and we have no bad feelings towards them. Matter of fact, my husband called the top people over there to make sure no one lost their job over this. This is just the way the Lord had wanted to take Lele...doing what he loved most and feeling no pain or suffering.

[old vaulter]

i went to the memorial service over the weekend at the hilton in Huntington Beach....room held 275 people...they had a 15 minute or so video that was a great tribute to leon and showed what a great life he did lead in the short time he was here....security came in to tell the parents there were 418 people in line outside waiting to get in on top of the 275 already inside....considering the circumstances it was a wonderful turnout and Leon's father was very thankful to the vault community as a whole in the response to the accident. Mike Tully ,Steve Smith and many others were there

the 15 minute video will soon be posted at leonroach.com

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.ucsdguardian.org/news/athlet ... -1.1912787

Athlete Killed in Pole-Vault Mishap
By By Sarah Alaoui

Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Updated: Thursday, September 24, 2009
Two days after a tragic rope drill accident left him unconscious, Revelle College sophomore Leon Roach was declared brain-dead on Sept. 5 and taken off life support at Scripps Memorial Hospital.
Nineteen-year-old Roach drove down to San Diego that day to practice with his pole vaulting team. He had swung over the crossbar on a rope hung from a tree when he overshot the padded mat and slammed his head against the concrete.
“Leon died doing what he loved to do most,” his mother Mary Ann Roach said. “I take great comfort in the fact that he was where he wanted to be.”
When it came down to choosing between UCSD and UC Berkeley, Roach’s passion for pole vaulting took precedence — there was no room for him on the team at Berkeley, so he turned the school down for UCSD and its track team.
“When we went to visit Coach Darcy and Tony [at UCSD], they made him feel like a track star,” Mary Ann Roach said. “They were so happy to have him, [and] he really felt like the team was a family.”
A Huntington Beach native, Roach majored in biochemistry, and was looking forward to a career in science. Recently, Roach went on a 13-day motorcycling trip to Mexico and Canada with his father and brother, Curtis Hendrick.
“I was always proud of him and joked he was my little prodigy,” Hendrick said. “Everything I did, he did — he always aspired to be like me, but surpassed me in every way.”
The brothers, only five years apart, had a mutual love of pole vaulting. They shared the same high school record in the sport — 15 feet and 4 inches.
Roach’s teammate, sophomore Allison Rudd, describes him as an “incredible teammate and friend with the most amazing character, work ethic and positive attitude.”
“He was so confident that when he would die he’d go to heaven, and had such a hope in the fact that God had a greater plan and a calling for his life,” Rudd, who was also his Bible study partner, said.
After Roach’s death, his wish to have his organs donated was fulfilled. His organs went to an 8-year-old boy waiting for a kidney, a 50-year-old woman who had been on dialysis for seven years and a mother who suffered severe heart damage after childbirth.
In a 2001 study, the American Journal of Sports Medicine ranked pole-vaulting as having the highest death rate per participant of any sport.
In 2002, 19-year-old Penn State student Kevin Dare died during a pole vaulting attempt and suffered fatal head injuries. His father, Ed Dare, tried to make the sport safer for athletes by helping design and market the first helmet made specifically for pole vaulters.
“Leon wouldn’t have wanted helmets to be required,” Hendrick said.
Mary Ann Roach emphasizes the fact that they are not blaming anyone for the accident.
“We hold no hard feelings toward UCSD or the coaches. Leon loved everyone down there,” she said.
All three track and field coaches contacted for this story refused to comment on the exact nature of the drill Roach was performing at the time of his death.