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Air Force Cadet, MMA Rising Star Among Slew of Young People Who Died Suddenly at School, On Basketball Courts

Neil Campbell
Neil lives in Canada and writes about society and politics.
Published: January 11, 2023
A USAF Cadet, MMA Star, and a kindergarten student have all died suddenly in the last several weeks
U.S. flags at half mast at the Washington Monument in D.C. after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September of 2022. A slew of young people have died suddenly of cardiac arrest and undisclosed causes over the last several weeks, including an Air Force Cadet and a rising star in the Southeast Asian MMA circuit. (Image: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

A laundry list of young people, including a U.S. Air Force cadet and an up-and-coming MMA star have died suddenly over the course of the last few weeks, leaving a chain of unconnected coincidences in their wake.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Air Force Academy announced on Twitter that 21-year-old Hunter Brown, an offensive lineman for the Force’s NCAA football team, “Died Monday after suffering a medical emergency while on his way to class.”

No cause of death appears to have been announced. However, an article on the topic by the New York Post paraphrased the Academy as stating that Brown’s death “will be investigated by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office.”

According to the USAF Academy’s website, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine acceptance was not a condition of enrollment and always considered as a voluntary basis since January of 2021.

MORE ON DYING SUDDENLY

A far less publicized case in the English language sphere is the sudden death of 18-year-old Singapore-based mixed martial arts rising star Victoria “The Prodigy” Lee, who suddenly passed away from undisclosed causes in late December of 2022.

The announcement was made on her sister Angela Lee’s Instagram page on Dec. 26. Angela is also a professional MMA star who holds the One Championship Atomweight belt.

Victoria held a 3-0 record in One Championship and was scheduled to fight on Jan. 14.

September of 2021 reporting by South China Morning Post stated that Chatri Sityodtong, head of One Championship, had instituted a requirement for all fighters who participate in Singapore venues to have accepted vaccination.

“I agree with the [Singapore] government, if you look how they’ve handled Covid relative to the rest of world. The country is 80 per cent vaccinated now, with very minimal rates of death. They have done a great job managing the whole thing,” Sityodtong stated.

In another case, 17-year-old Blaze Jacobs died suddenly after suffering a cardiac arrest while attending class at Western Brown High School in Ohio on Jan. 9, according to a report by The Sacramento Bee.

Notice was sent to parents from the school that Jacobs had suffered the incident and passed away after being transported to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, according to a screenshot of the text posted to Facebook.

The Bee stated that CPR was administered to Jacob for over an hour before his passing.

An extremely brief report on the topic by WKRC News claimed they were “told [Jacobs] had a preexisting heart condition.”

Perhaps more chilling was the sudden death of 5-year-old Kindergarten student Evelyn Bauer, who “passed away unexpectedly” on Sunday, Jan. 8, again from undisclosed causes, according to Cleveland 9 News.

In the Bahamas, an 18-year-old girl named La’Bree Bonaby died in the middle of a basketball court on Jan. 5, according to an article in Jamacia’s The Gleaner newspaper. 

“We are going to have an autopsy performed to find out exactly what went wrong (and) why she collapsed on the park … We can’t say if she had any previous medical condition or known to have any,” Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skipping told media.

On Jan. 7, Jordan Tyler Brister, a senior at Amplus Academy in Las Vegas, passed away also after “suddenly and unexpectedly suffer[ing] cardiac arrest while at school with no explanation as to why,” according to KNTV News and a GoFundMe page.

Just one day earlier on Jan. 6, KNTV reported that, 16-year-old Ashari Hughes “died after collapsing at a flag football game” at Desert Oasis High School, also in Las Vegas.