Teen rugby player dies after suffering head injury in game
A 17-year-old John McRae Secondary School student in Ottawa has died following a severe head injury she sustained during a rugby game last week.
Rowan Stringer was captain of the high school rugby team this year, and it was her second year on the club, said her father, Gordon Stringer.
She also played in a rugby club last summer after school ended, and was planning to join again this summer.
Stringer, who was to turn 18 in June, had been accepted into nursing school at the University of Ottawa, her dad said.
She died Sunday night.
Gordon Stringer said doctors believe his daughter suffered a smaller head injury earlier in the week that could have contributed to the severity of the second head injury.
In a statement, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said a crisis management team is at John McRae for students and staff.
"Rowan was injured in a rugby game," the statement reads. "The play stopped following the injury. The game did not continue."
It adds: "Grief counselors are on site. Rowan passed away last evening so no memorial has been planned as of yet. There will be no sports at John McCrae today or tomorrow."
Friends and acquaintances of the teen took to the web to express their grief Monday.
"Don't know how I'm going to walk into French class. It will not be complete," said one Twitter user.
"[A] spirit like yours never dies, love you to the moon and back," wrote another.
