Countryside FPD firefighter/paramedics and Vernon Hills police responded about 7:51 p.m. Wednesday, November 16, 2016 to a report of a collapsed and unresponsive high school swimmer at Vernon Hills High School.
Firefighter/paramedics received a report that a teen swimmer passed out in the boy’s locker room, and then were told that CPR was started. The swimmer was transported by paramedics to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he was pronounced dead at 8:53 p.m.
The swimmer, Josh Church, a 17-year-old male from Wadsworth, died during a swimming club practice. Josh Church was a junior at Warren Township High School in Gurnee, and was a member of the Cats Aquatic Team from Vernon Hills. An autopsy performed on Thursday showed Church died of undetermined natural causes.
Police confirmed the teen did not drown, and there were no signs of drug or alcohol abuse.
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