16-year-old Florida soccer player collapses, dies

PIERSON, Fla. (AP) - Officials say a 16-year-old soccer player from central Florida's A.T. Dewitt Taylor High School collapsed and died during a game.  A memorial was held Thursday night for Rosio Delao, who collapsed Wednesday during a soccer match and later died.  Paramedics attended to the girl at the school, then took her to a hospital in DeLand, where she was pronounced dead.

“I miss her smile, every time we saw here she would have a smile on her face, and she dedicated everything in soccer,” said her teammate Dulce Gomez.

District officials said Delao, who has asthma, called herself out of the game when she had trouble breathing.  
“The coach made sure that she was okay, made sure that she was using her inhaler," said Nancy Wait with the Volusia County School District.  "He turned around to pay attention to the game and heard her fall of the bench, and she became unconscious.” 

The coach began chest compressions, paramedics arrived and she was rushed to the hospital where she later died.

“I was shocked I didn't know what to do,” said Gomez.  Her fellow soccer teammates are remembering Delao. as a standout player on the field and an amazing person off the field.  "She wanted to score so we would give her the ball and she would go for it," Gomez said.

The school had grief counselors on hand for students.