Health a Prior Issue for Colby

There was enough of a concern about Costa Mesa High linebacker Matt Colby’s health that he was held out of contact drills during practice sessions last week.

Colby, 17, died Saturday after collapsing on the sideline the previous night during a game against Huntington Beach Ocean View at Westminster High. The senior had complained of headaches after two previous games, but he had been cleared to play by the same doctor who prohibited him from practice contact, Costa Mesa Athletic Director Kirk Bauermeister said.

School officials and Colby’s family declined to provide the doctor’s name and additional details. The athletic director said the player was examined after being tested for a concussion by school trainer Steve Mendoza.

An autopsy was performed Monday, but results will not be available for four to six weeks. The chief pathologist indicated he wanted to run additional tests, a spokesperson for the Orange County coroner’s office said.

It was not immediately evident Colby was in trouble when he was blocked on kickoff coverage just four minutes into the game. Two defensive plays later, he needed to leave the field, head aching, feet and legs tingling, Coach Dave Perkins said.

Grief-stricken officials and students on Monday mourned the loss of Colby, who was pronounced dead on Saturday but was kept on life support until his organs could be removed for transplant the next day. The team voted overwhelmingly to play its game against Whittier Christian at Newport Harbor High, but the school postponed homecoming activities including a planned dance, pep rally and ceremonies that were to take place during halftime.

Costa Mesa Principal Diana Carey, Perkins and Bauermeister on Monday spelled out a sequence of events on the tragic night and the precautions taken when Colby complained of headaches after games on Sept. 15 and Sept. 21.

Mendoza, the trainer, examined Colby after the latter game and took him through a series of tests.

“He [Mendoza] didn’t find any signs of concussion,” Bauermeister said. “He was checked the next two or three days to see, and there were no symptoms that developed. Any time a kid has headaches, we treat it as a concussion. At no time did he show signs of a concussion.”

A.J. Perkins, the coach’s son and also a Costa Mesa player, said Colby, his best friend, “looked really exhausted” after the Sept. 15 game against Westminster. “I’m pretty sure he took a shot [in the game],” A.J. said. “I remember he wasn’t feeling that well. After the game, I took him home ....On Monday, it seemed like he had bounced back.”

The next week, A.J. said, Colby, a defensive player, was used on offense for the first time in a lopsided game. His first run, his friend recalled, was a good one.

“But he took a pretty big shot at the end of the run, I think it was helmet to helmet,” A.J. said. “I went up to him and asked, ‘Was that crazy or what? Do you want to run again?’ He said, ‘I don’t think I can, my head is killing me.”’

A.J. said he and Colby rode back to Costa Mesa from the game on different buses. Colby arrived on campus first, and A.J. found him lying on the ground, complaining of a headache and feeling nauseated. It was then that A.J. persuaded him to visit Mendoza, the trainer.

The next day, A.J. said Colby “looked out of it” and was complaining of still having a little bit of a headache.

The school received the letter for clearance two days later, on Sept. 24, and it was given by Colby to the trainer, who passed along a copy to Coach Perkins, officials said. That is standard procedure, according to a former trainer at the school.

Said Carey: “If there’s a problem, they go to their own physician. We require a written notification that it’s OK for that kid to play again. We talk to the parents. The doctor has the [decision] over us.”

During the week, Colby went through light, non-contact drills and Perkins reported he passed with “flying colors.” Additionally, Perkins asked his son A.J. how Colby was feeling, and A.J. said there were no problems.

A.J. said Monday that Colby’s headaches gradually decreased throughout the week before Friday’s game, and “by Friday it was nonexistent.” Perkins said he has watched Friday’s game film about 10 times and there was nothing unusual about the play on kickoff coverage involving Colby.

“He got blocked, but it was nothing violent of that sort,” Perkins said. “He wasn’t breaking the wedge, he just stayed in his lane.”

Perkins detected no disorientation and didn’t realize anything was wrong until Colby ran off the field under his own power two plays later.

“‘Can you get me a sub? I don’t feel right, something is wrong,”’ Colby said, according to Perkins.

Added Perkins: “He was complaining of a headache and tingling in his limbs. It’s unbelievable how quickly things turned.” Principal Carey, who was standing on the sideline, said paramedics were not on site. The 911 call was made at 7:18 p.m. and medics arrived at 7:22, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. But Colby’s condition quickly took a dramatic turn for the worse, Perkins said.

Deron Colby, an uncle, acknowledged that there are many unanswered questions about Colby’s death. “Hopefully, the result of this will cause people to look at these things and take some precautions, so this thing won’t happen to another kid,” he said.

Colby’s mother, Kelli, remained in seclusion Monday.

The headaches Colby had been suffering had some experts wondering whether it was a case of second-impact syndrome, which involves repeated mild brain injuries occurring in a short period.

“My first reaction was this could be second-impact syndrome,” said Dr. Terry Ann Zeigler of Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, who also cautioned against reaching a conclusion until the autopsy is released. Zeigler was once the head trainer at Costa Mesa High School.

Heart failure also may have contributed to Colby’s death. “We were told that he had a heart attack, and that caused his respiratory failure and his lungs to fill up with fluid,” Perkins said, adding that Colby’s heart muscle could not be used for transplant because of the damage, but his heart valves and other organs were saved and donated.

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Times staff writer Lisa Dillman contributed to this report.