Mira Costa Soccer Player Died of Heart Defect

Mira Costa Soccer Player Died of Heart Defect

Ryan King, a 16-year-old junior varsity soccer player at Manhattan Beach Mira Costa High who died Nov. 16 after collapsing at practice, died of a congenital heart defect, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office has concluded.

The defect, known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, causes an abnormal thickening of the walls of the heart.

King, a sophomore, collapsed shortly after telling junior varsity Coach Kenny Baker that he wasn’t feeling well after running the first of two warmup laps around one of the school’s soccer fields.

The running followed 15 to 20 minutes of stretching, which came after players ran two laps to start practice.

He was pronounced dead at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance.

John Ortega