My name is Jayson Tran, I am the father of Zachary Tran who died on October 1st, 2003. I would first like to let you know how much we appreciate what you are doing with MomsTeam.com in terms of sports safety awareness as well as all other aspects of youth sports.

I am writing to you to clarify the information about Zach's death in the "To Nineteen Youth Athletes Dying Young" article. I understand that the information is from newspaper stories and you can only write what you've read. We've read countless newspaper articles concerning the events surrounding Zach's death and each one is different with varying levels of accuracy and implications. The information stated in your article, although technically accurate, is incomplete and gives the impression that the goal fell because Zach was hanging on the crossbar.

In reality, Zach and another boy had gotten down from hanging on the crossbar as directed by Zach's mother and the coach some time (minutes) before the goal finally fell. From all eyewitnesses and forensic evidence, Zach was standing on the ground when the goal fell.

Unfortunately, no one saw or can say exactly how the goal fell. Zach's mother, driving three boys to practice that day, was walking away to take a third boy to a nearby bathroom. The official cause of death as ruled by the coroner was cardiac arrest due to the massive head injuries.

I hope this information will enable you to have a more complete and accurate picture of what happened on that tragic day. If you would like any additional information about Zach or the events surrounding Zach's death, please feel free to contact me.

Again, we appreciate all that you are doing with MomsTeam.com as well as Teams Of Angels. The information you provide is very beneficial and should be in every parent's bookmark. As a side note, because of the information on your site and working as a school board member, all our schools will have AEDs in the very near future.

Thanks again,
Jayson Tran

Editors Note: As a result of the information provided by Mr. Tran, the article on the nineteen youth sports athletes who died in the fall of 2003 has been revised. If you have a similar story and would like to share it with us, please write to editors@momsteam.com

Published March 4, 2004

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