Kansas high school football player dies after mid-game stroke

SHAWNEE MISSION, Kan., Oct. 5 (UPI) -- A Kansas high school football player has died after suffering a stroke during a game this week, a family member and hospital official said.

Shawnee Mission West High School senior Andre Maloney was stricken on the football field Thursday night and died the following evening, The Kansas City Star reported.

Maloney was a star wide receiver and cornerback who last season helped his school win its first state championship since 1985 and had verbally committed to play football at Kansas next fall.

A cousin, Karla Montoya, told the newspaper the family decided to stop further treatment after being informed by doctors that the 17-year-old was unlikely to emerge from the vegetative state he entered after the stroke.

"He's been an athlete since the day he could walk," Montoya, 20, said. "It would be unfair for us to hold on to him."

Doctors operated after finding a blood clot in Maloney's brain, but were unable to successfully remove the clot, Montoya said.

"It's shocking to me because you never expected something like that to happen to Andre," said Kez Demby, a teammate of Maloney's last season. "When people see Andre Maloney, they think football. The thing that stood out to me was his goofy smile. Anytime he was smiling, you just had to smile too."

Shawnee Mission West lost its game with Leavenworth 37-34.