THE SIDELINES : Mother Dies Cheering Her Son

A woman died of heart failure after choking on candy while cheering her son during a high school football game.

Shawn Overocker, a tight end at St. Theresa High School, caught his first pass of the year during Monday night’s junior varsity game against Monticello.

But when Candace Overocker began cheering, she choked on some hard candy, said William Mundt, Piatt County medical examiner.

“Within two minutes, she was given CPR” by paramedics attending the game, Mundt said. And crowd members tried the Heimlich maneuver, a squeeze that can dislodge an object from the throat of a choking victim.

But Mrs. Overocker, 35, of Decatur was pronounced dead at Kirby Hospital in Monticello.