SEBASTIAN — On Aug. 13, Maria Wray received news every parent dreads – her beloved child was dead. Wray is the birth mother of William Shogran Jr., the 14-year-old Sebastian River High School student who died of heat stroke Aug. 13, during pre-season training with the SRHS Sharks football team at Camp Blanding in North Florida.
Channeling her grief and pain into positive action, and determined such heartbreaking tragedy can be prevented, Wray, who lives in Jacksonville, has created a petition seeking stronger measures to protect high school athletes playing or practicing in hot weather.
Addressing efforts made by coaches and emergency personnel to save her son, she has not placed blame, but is, instead, urging the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations and the Florida High School Athletic Association to ramp up safety protocols for young athletes, band members, and cheerleaders and to mandate, not simply suggest, that they be followed.
Of her son, Wray says, “My William looked at the good in people and loved with his heart. He was funny and had a loud laugh that always made everyone else laugh. He was a gentle giant, and I have no doubt he would have gone far in life. He had aspirations of becoming a youth pastor when he got older. We want to make this change in honor of the great life he led, even at such a young age.”
As soon as the official cause of death – heat stroke – had been determined, and Wray learned that her son’s temperature had climbed to an unimaginable 107, she began to research current guidelines at high schools across the country for responding to heat-related events.
According to Wray, Kentucky requires that a tub of ice be available during hot weather practice and, in Georgia, schools can be fined for failing to follow state guidelines, which include having a Wet Globe Bulb Temperature Meter, used frequently in athletics to measure the effect of temperature, humidity and sunlight on humans.
“From my research,” Wray says, “I learned that 13 states (including Florida) have ‘adopted guidelines’ that coaches and trainers should abide by in handling these issues. But they are just suggestions, not mandates. There is no obligation for schools to take preventative actions here. I propose, not just here in Florida but everywhere, that vitals should be taken such as temperature and blood pressure; that ice tubs should be readily available in the event heat illness occurs and that . . . [Wet Globe Bulb Temperature Meter] be in place for extra monitoring.
“Why shouldn’t these laws and requirements be in place everywhere? It is sad because it doesn’t take much to make a big difference. Many young people have suffered from the heat and too many have passed.”
The petition is on Change.org and can be found using the search term “Shogran.”
It is being sent to Dr. Roger Dearing, Executive Director, Florida High School Athletic Association, and Bob Gardner, Executive Director, National Federation of State High School Associations.
More than 3,000 people have signed the petition so far this month.
