High School Senior, 17, Dies Days After Suddenly Collapsing During Football Practice

• High school senior Odin Hensley died after suffering cardiac arrest during football practice on Monday, Aug. 10
• “His presence touched many lives, and he will be deeply missed,” the Lake Travis School District said on social media
• Hensley’s teammates have honored him by wearing stickers featuring his name and jersey number on their helmets

A Texas high school student has died days after he suddenly collapsed during football practice. 

On Monday, Aug. 10, Lake Travis High School’s football coach informed parents in a Facebook post that a student athlete, later identified as high school senior Odin Hensley, experienced a “serious health emergency which required the assistance of Travis County STAR Flight” at around 8 a.m. that morning. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, we canceled the remainder of today’s football activities,” Coach Carter wrote. “I am extremely grateful for our athletic training staff, coaches, LTISD PD, and the first responders who arrived on site within minutes of the call. Our thoughts and prayers are with the player and his family at this time.”

According to Fox 7 Austin, Hensley was hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Dell Children’s Medical Center. 

Three days later, the Lake Travis School District announced that Hensley had died “as a result of the complications from a medical emergency he experienced during football practice earlier this week.”

“Odin had been part of the Lake Travis ISD family for many years, beginning at Lake Pointe Elementary School,” Superintendent Curtis Null wrote of the late 17-year-old in a news release. “At Lake Travis High School, he was a dedicated athlete who excelled in wrestling and football.”

“His teachers and coaches remember Odin as a kind, determined young man who was a valued teammate, classmate, and friend,” he added. “His presence touched many lives, and he will be deeply missed.”

The school board said that counselors would be made available to support students, staff, and families in the high school’s counseling center. 

“We are grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support for Odin, his family and the Lake Travis football family over the past several days,” the news release added. “During this difficult time, we ask that you keep Odin’s family, teammates and classmates, coaches, athletic trainers, teachers, and all those who knew and loved him in your thoughts and prayers.”

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Having shown their support for Hensley’s family while he was in the hospital, his teammates then honored him after the news of his death by wearing stickers featuring his name and jersey number on their helmets. 

Vikki Goodwin, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, also paid tribute to the late football star in a statement shared on social media. 

“I did not know Odin personally, but I know this community. And I know what it means when a family loses a child, when a team loses a teammate, when a school loses one of its own,” she wrote. “I have read the words his teachers used; kind, determined, a good teammate. A good friend. Those words do not come easy. They came easy for Odin.”

“To his parents, his siblings, everyone who loved him first and loved him longest, I am so sorry,” she continued. “There is no message that reaches that kind of pain. Just know this community grieves with you, today and every day after.”

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