OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
An alarming number of healthy young people are dying of unknown causes as the entire world is seeing an increase in Sudden Death Syndrome.
17-year-old high school golfer Tyler Erickson died suddenly while practicing for an upcoming tournament in Florida.
The Holmes County community is mourning the loss of a beloved athlete and honor student, Tyler Erickson. He passed away just shy of his 18th birthday.
Our condolences to his friends and family. pic.twitter.com/U5LV5kkRsG
— WJHG-TV (@WJHG_TV) September 13, 2022
He was a senior at Holmes County High School who excelled at both his academics and athletics. He was also state president of the National Beta Club.
High School Athletic Director Jeff Lee said, “Actually what he was doing when the tragedy struck was going out to work on his golf game, and that’s the type of guy he was.”
Tyler’s father, Clint Erickson, said the cause of death has not been confirmed. It appears that the healthy young man suffered either a heart attack or blood clot.
“After getting to the hospital the doctor believes he might have had a heart attack or blood clot,” Clint Erickson wrote. “I requested an autopsy.
“This is one of those situations you stand back and pray and cry and pray again. I don’t understand why. I just know my Tyler will be missed by his family and friends. Please keep us in prayer.”
More on this story via Western Journal:
Erickson’s parents said he came home following golf practice on Monday, and after drinking some water, he decided he wanted to go back on the course to practice some more, WMBB-TV in Panama City reported.
When the sun went down, Erickson had yet to return home. His parents grew concerned and went out on the course to look for him. They eventually found their son dead on the floorboard of a golf cart on the course’s sixth hole.
Speaking to WJHG, Erickson said his son touched many lives in his short time on Earth.
“My child had been a blessing to my wife, and my two daughters,” Erickson said. “One older daughter and one younger daughter. We will cherish him forever.”
While he did not know why his son was taken from him so soon, he said the family was trusting God in the midst of the tragedy.
“It was God’s will,” Erickson said. “We believe it was God’s will for this to happen. It was an unexplainable accident, and it’s just hard. It’s hard and it’s difficult to move on, but we’ve got to move on. But just as a family, we feel blessed that we’ve been able to have him.”