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Cheerleader, 16, Collapses At Game And Dies At Hospital

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A 16-year-old cheerleader at Washington Prep High School collapsed at a high school football game in Southwest Los Angeles and died at a nearby hospital.

Washington Prep principal Todd Yullah told KNX radio that the girl -- identified as 16-year-old Angela Gettis -- was taken by paramedics from Fremont High School to the hospital and was pronounced dead there about three hours later.

Witness Cameron Bonner told reporters that the girl collapsed in the final moments of Friday night's game between Washington Prep and Fremont on the Fremont campus in the 7600 block of San Pedro Street.

Los Angeles firefighters took the teenager in apparent cardiac arrest to the hospital at 9:13 p.m. after she had been given CPR by bystanders before paramedics arrived at the school, fire spokesman Erik Scott said.

Bonner said the Washington Prep squad had just tied the game with minutes to go when play was stopped and coaches and trainers ran to where minutes earlier, the cheerleaders had been performing.

"They had just tied the game up, and the cheerleaders were pumped up," Bonner said. Angela appeared "to just pass out," he said.

"All of her friends were in a circle crying," Bonner said. "It was so confusing, they were all so concerned about this little angel."

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

 

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