Schools to probe player's death

Fraley had cited dehydration, cramps

CHAPEL HILL -- The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will investigate Chapel Hill High football player Atlas Fraley's death, focusing on the final hours that he was under school supervision.

Superintendent Neil Pedersen requested the investigation to make sure district policies had been followed during a football scrimmage the day Fraley died and to see whether the system can learn anything for the future.

"We certainly want to know what exactly happened that morning," Pedersen said. "That's basically our starting point."

Attorney Ken Soo of the law firm Tharrington-Smith said he did not know how long the investigation would take or how much of its findings would be made public. Information related to personnel and student records is protected by privacy rules.

Fraley, 17, called 911 about 1:45 p.m. last Tuesday, after the scrimmage, complaining of dehydration and full-body cramps.

He had gone in and out of the game complaining of cramps, and teammates have said Fraley had to stand for much of the bus ride home from Apex because his legs were cramping.

Emergency responders arrived at his home at 1:54 p.m. and left at 2:16 p.m., according to a recording of emergency radio traffic.

Orange County Emergency Services administrators have not said what the first responders did for Fraley, whose parents found him dead a few hours later.

The Medical Examiner's Office has said it is investigating dehydration as one of several possible factors in Fraley's death.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board adopted a policy in June on preventing weather related illness and injury.

The policy says heat- and humidity-related illness and injury can range from simple muscle cramps to more severe heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

School board Chairwoman Pam Hemminger, who has 17-year-old twin sons, said school officials are devastated.

"It just really breaks your heart," she said.