Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 4-28-17

Local
Basketball Player, 13, Dies Suddenly During Practice
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
‘Was any medical person- nel at the site? Did anyone try to help our son?’
Mr. and Mrs. Alvin (Topeka) Williams, Sr., are preparing to bury their 13-year-old son, Alvin, Jr., who died last Thursday, April 20, 2017, during an AAU basketball practice. Alvin, Jr., was their only child.
As they move forward with the services, which will be held on Saturday, April 29th, 11 a. m., at Cathedral of Faith Church, the parents are also plagued with a number of questions. (See Funeral Notice in this issue)
First of all, the two coaches (they only had first names) who contacted them about their 6’2” son, have not reached out to them since his death.
“I have so many ques- tions,” Williams, Sr., told this writer. “Was there a nurse or any kind of medical personnel at the gym, did they have a defibrillator; where are the coaches; did they give my son a physical to see if he could play; I un- derstand everyone was just standing around while our
ALVIN ERIC WILLIAMS, JR. ...Died during a youth bas-
ketball practice
son laid on the floor until the paramedics arrived,” he stated. Alvin, Jr., report- edly died of cardiac arrest.
Mrs. Williams said their son played basketball last school season at Ben Hill Middle School as a 6th grader – the only 6th grader on the team. When they moved, he was assigned to Adams Middle School. How- ever, it was the middle of the season and he didn’t get to play.
When she was ap- proached by a former Boys and Girls Club coach about her son playing on an AAU team, she agreed. She later learned that her son would
be playing on an AAU trav- eling team with other 7th graders.
Practice was scheduled for a Saturday and Sunday. They could not make the Saturday schedule and the Sunday scheduled was can- celled. She was notified last Tuesday about practice on Thursday at a gym on Florida Ave. and Sligh Ave. She agreed to have him there.
A student at Erwin Tech- nical in the evening, Mrs. Williams was not able to take her son to practice. His father was at work. And, his grandmother went with him to the gym, but stayed in the car during practice. The grandmother was notified when young Alvin col- lapsed. He was pronounced deceased at a local hospital.
Mrs. Williams said young Alvin had seen a car- diologist previously. His last visit was last year. He had recently mentioned chest pains, but they had not vis- ited the doctor’s office.
Alvin, Jr., has played basketball since he was 5 years old. He enjoyed the PlayStation and wireless headphones that his parents gave him this past Christ- mas for him to listen to his basketball games.
Tampa Residents Asked To Restrict Water Usage
The City of Tampa is in- cluded in a Phase I water shortage declaration for the Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas tri-county area. All water users in the shortage area are asked to reduce any unnecessary water use and to prepare for tightened irri- gation restrictions if extreme dry conditions continue.
Chuck Weber, Director of the Tampa Water Depart- ment said, “During the cur- rent dry season, surface and ground water levels are de- clining and our rainfall has been below average. Any voluntary reductions in water use our customers can make will help us continue to meet local water needs.
“While all reductions in use help, the two areas where our customers can make the biggest contribu- tion are irrigation manage- ment and leak detection and repair. Those are the areas where we usually see the greatest water use inefficien- cies,” he said.
The Southwest Florida
Water Management District advises that as the Tampa Bay region moves further into the dry season, more ag- gressive water shortage ac- tions may become necessary.
Tampa residents are en- couraged to review their ir- rigation practices and to check to ensure that their ir- rigation system includes a properly functioning rain sensing device.
Materials and informa- tion available to assist cus- tomers with identifying leaks, improving the effi- ciency of their irrigation system and calculating their water use are online at www.tampagov.net/Save- Water. Information to help Tampa water users identify and address leaks is avail- able online at www.Tam- pagov.net/fixle-aks.
To obtain information about specific addresses visit the website at www.MyWateringDay.com; and www.TampaGov.net/ waterrestrictions.
PAGE 10-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017