Man dies during ice hockey game in Wake Forest

A man was playing ice hockey in Wake Forest when he hit the boards and could not be revived.

Michael Twiss, 56, was playing hockey with his sons at the Polar Ice House at The Factory in Wake Forest when he reportedly skated head-first into the boards. CPR was being administered when police and EMS arrived around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Wake Forest spokesman Bill Crabtree said Tuesday.

Twiss was taken to WakeMed where he was pronounced dead, Crabtree said.

It’s unclear how Twiss died, Crabtree said. An autopsy will be performed by the state medical examiner, he said.

A GoFundMe page was set up to collect donations for the family at www.gofundme.com/in-loving-memory-of-michael-twiss. By 7 p.m. Tuesday it had raised nearly $7,000 toward its $10,000 goal.

“Michael was a beloved husband and father and, for those of us who played with him, a hell of a teammate,” the page reads. “While most of us know him because of hockey, his influence stretches beyond just that community. He was always outspoken and fiercely competitive and most of us will choose to remember him as a fighter, a leader and a friend.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Man dies during ice hockey game in Wake Forest."