Teen athlete collapses, dies at school
Apparently healthy youth was playing basketball
He was a star football player, a seemingly healthy athlete who had passed school physicals required to participate in sports. But as students at John D. O'Bryant High School in Roxbury reveled in the excitement of their imminent summer break yesterday morning, 17-year-old Jonathan Joseph collapsed and died while playing basketball on a school court with three friends.
He was rushed to the hospital after a school nurse unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him.
The death shocked the school and Joseph's family.
"My son was a healthy boy; he never had any serious problems," Ania Remy said about four hours after her son's death, sitting at her dining room table, tears running down her cheeks. Nearby, a relative who had just arrived at the family's house on McGreevey Way in Roxbury fell to the floor screaming with grief.
It may take authorities several days, if not weeks, to determine the cause of Joseph's death. Remy said her son underwent a routine physical examination at the start of the school year and was cleared to play sports.
Joseph left his Roxbury home for school yesterday with a smile on his face. His 20-year-old sister, Tainabelle, had played a practical joke on him, burying herself under a ruffled pile of clothes on his bed and startling him as he sat on the pile.
It was the second-to-last day of school. Inside the building, the anticipation of summer was in the air as students chatted about their plans for the weeks ahead. Joseph, a popular student, started the day with three friends at the school's outdoor basketball court. Shortly after school began, he collapsed.
The friends initially thought that Joseph, known for his sense of humor, was joking. But they soon realized he was unconscious, and they ran to find the school nurse. According to witnesses' accounts to the family, a school nurse rushed to the basketball court and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Joseph, but he was unresponsive. Moments later, an ambulance arrived and took Joseph to Boston Medical Center.
Standing in front of her house, Tainabelle Joseph said, "He was fine when he left this morning; he was smiling because I made him laugh."
Grieving friends and family members sat on a porch, on the sidewalk, and in cars, consoling one another, crying, and talking about the teenager with the "Kool-Aid" smile. Friends discussed how Joseph was quick with his charming smile and how he adored food, especially cheesecake.
The school's headmaster, Joel Stembridge, declined to speak on the record, but on the school's website, he posted a message: "Earlier today, one of our 11th-graders, Jonathan Joseph, collapsed while playing basketball. He was immediately taken to the hospital, but, unfortunately, efforts to revive him were not successful. We are deeply saddened at this news, and we are working with counselors and support staff to help students cope. Jonathan was a valued member of the O'B community, and when teachers talk about him, they mention what a nice young man he was."
Tainabelle Joseph said a school administrator called the family early yesterday and said her brother had experienced a medical emergency and was on the way to Boston Medical Center. At the hospital, the family was met by a hospital employee who ushered Remy into a nearby room and closed the door. Seconds later, Remy let out a scream that reached the family room.
"We knew he died after we heard our mother," Tainabelle Joseph said.
Joseph had three sisters and two brothers. Remy said she emigrated from Haiti to the United States about 23 years ago.
As news of Joseph's death quickly spread through the school yesterday, the mood changed from end-of-the-year celebration to shock.
"Everyone was just sad and not really saying anything," said Bessie Byrd, a classmate of Jonathan's and a close family friend. 