# Teenager Dies After Cheerleading Stunt



## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

TEWKSBURY, Mass. - A high school freshman died after she was tossed in the air during a cheerleading routine and landed chest-down in her teammates' arms, authorities said. 

Ashley Burns, 14, complained of abdominal pain and had trouble breathing shortly after the stunt, police Chief Alfred P. Donovan said.
"She said she thought she had the wind knocked out of her," he said. "She was talking, but her condition worsened rapidly."

Paramedics took Burns to a hospital in Lowell, where she died. An autopsy was to be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Burns and her teammates were practicing a stunt in which the other girls held her by one foot and tossed her in the air. She was supposed to twirl twice before landing on her back in the arms of her teammates, but Burns did not rotate fully and landed instead on her stomach, said her coach, Julie Brown.

James Deveney, principal of the middle school Burns attended until June, said she missed part of the last school year with an illness. A neighbor who said she was speaking for the girl's family said Burns had her appendix removed in the spring. Linda Michaud said that Burns otherwise was fine.

Linda Bernis, co-owner of the East Elite Cheer Gym where the girls were practicing, declined to comment pending the outcome of the investigation. "Our sympathy is with the family right now," she said.

Burns was an incoming freshman at Medford Vocational-Technical High School and had cheered for years on a Pop Warner team. She had just made the team at Medford High School, which shares sports with Burns' high school.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050810/ap_on_re_us/cheerleader_death


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

wow, that's sad.


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Wow thats so very sad. I cheered most of my life and it is so dangerous. I am paying for it now only 31 and already have arthritis setting in due to numerous injuries from cheerleading. I hate to hear such tragic losses like that doing something for fun and entertainment only. Very sad


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## AshleytheGreat (Jul 24, 2005)

I was a cheerleader, and they all TRIED to make me do that spin thing. But I didnt...all the possibilities that could have happened.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Makes you stop and think of everything you do everyday and how dangerous it is. Im going to just sit here and play video games. DOH. better not that might kill me to.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

LOL your funny fish doc! And hey ya never know what can happen until it happens.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Hmm wonder what they determined the cause as


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## Beerleader (May 31, 2005)

Lexus from the description it sounded like a basket toss, with a full or double twist from the likes of how she ended on her stomach. And I'd imagine it would be internal organ damage due to the blow of landing on their arms and possibly a knee to the stomach or chest. I remember times when basket tosses went wrong you'd do anything even if it required using legs or knees to keep someone from smashing their head or back straight into the ground. I hate the thought of that but I can imagine exactly how it happened. Been there so many times and can't believe it never happened to me or one of my friends. Cheerleading is so competitive now that its probably one of the most dangerous sports. I am 31 but I am in Lexington, Ky probably one of the most competitive cities there is. My school one nationals numerous times. But even back then it was constant injuries. I got stress fractures in my spine from gymnastics on a concrete based gym floor..too much stress on it, eventually gave out. As much as I love the sport I kind of hope if I have a girl someday she chooses something else


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## solar-ton (Aug 15, 2005)

she cracked her splene and bleed internally sad fate really...and yes i thought that up myself


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

By the sound of it it actually wasn't a basket toss, it was a double fold from either a heal stretch or a lib or some other fact simili. Hahah yes, I was a stuntman in high school. If it was a basket toss it wouldn't have been tossed from only one foot, it would have been both if it was from a basket toss. My mom is actually the cheerleading and stunts coach at my old high school. We've gone to CANAM several times (a national competition) as well as several other competitions in Florida and Virginia. Our team has a fairly low injury rate, and actually I don't think we have had a girl actually fall onto the mat in competition since my mother has taken over (mainly because in practice we have to do 40 push ups if a girl even comes close to the mat or lands hard in the guys arms). I think we're actually on our 12th (maybe 14th?) national title in co-ed stunts (it's been a while), and I know we've been grand champion (team with the highest score in the entire competition) 4-5 times, my senior year we competed against an all star team and beat them too hahah. Its nice to see someone that actually went to nationals and competed.


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## thecatdidit (Aug 15, 2005)

I've been a sign maker for over 20 years. I've hung more than a few signs. I remember one above an awning, a very hard angle to get to without a "cherry picker" that wasn't in the budget. My co-worker was on a scafolding about 16' from the ground and extending himself a long ways to reach the sign trying to put touch up paint over the screws. I was off the scaffold. He fell onto the awning and slid down. Probably only fell about 10'. He said he was fine. He had a stroke two days later. He can hardly walk or talk now, certainly will never work again. Never determined if the fall might have brought on the stroke. I don't know if he had been examined two days earlier they would have found something that might say he was at risk... I get a physical every six months. I always try to make certain everything is checked, that's why I have insurance. I know I fell, I insisted on getting checked out, whether it was my insurance or the job's insurance. Always be safe.


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