17-Year-Old Basketball Player Dies Unexpectedly Following ‘Medical Event’

A 17-year-old basketball player in Gillette, Wyoming died unexpectedly on December 26th.

The teenager had an abdominal infection, according to the coroner investigating the case.

17-year-old basketball player in Gillette, Wyoming dies unexpectedly following a medical event on December 26th.

The teenager had an abdominal infection, according to the coroner investigating the case.

— DailyNoah.com (@DailyNoahNews) January 8, 2023

However, the autopsy of the teen, Max Sorenson, still is ongoing pending additional tests by a forensic pathologist in Rapid City, said Paul Wallem, Campbell County Coroner.

On December 29th, Cowboy State Daily confirmed that Sorenson suffered a “medical event” at his home and was pronounced deceased at Campbell County Memorial Hospital.

Much of the past week has not felt real for those processing the loss of Max Sorenson, a 17-year-old junior and spark plug for the Thunder Basin boys basketball team, who died unexpectedly Monday afternoon.https://t.co/FDgw76tipm

— Gillette News Record (@The_News_Record) December 30, 2022

Via Cowboy State Daily:

As he spoke, Wallem was driving home from Rapids City, South Dakota, where an autopsy is being performed.

Wallem said he’s not investigating the case as a suicide, nor as a homicide, and illicit drugs also don’t appear to be a factor.

The investigation is suggesting “more of a medical condition,” he said.

According to Wallem, the investigation so far has shown that Sorenson had abdominal peritonitis, which is an infection of the abdominal lining.

Cowboy State Daily reported:

Such infections can be caused either by liver or kidney disease, or by a rupture inside an organ in the abdomen, according to mayoclinic.org.

“We are assuming it’s (from) an injury related to a sporting event,” said Wallem. “But the forensic pathologist in Rapid City had a few more tests to do and I haven’t heard back from him yet.”

Wallem said he doesn’t yet know for certain what sporting injury could have led to the peritonitis.

“That’s part of what the pathologist was continuing to look at,” he said.

Cowboy State Daily commented that multiple readers asked if the teenager was vaccinated against COVID-19.

Wallem said he does not know the teen’s vaccination status at this time.

“We’re focusing on the injury in the sporting event as the cause of peritonitis,” he said, adding that if that idea isn’t supported by the evidence, “we will continue to look at other answers.”

Sorenson’s grandmother posted on Facebook that he died “due to complications from a torn hip muscle he sustained at a basketball game.”

Our #3 Grandchild, by birth order, passed away December 26th due to complications from a torn hip muscle he sustained at a basketball game playing for the Varsity Thunderbolts of Gillette, WY. Our Little Big Guy Max, was named after his Grandpa Max. He was #3 on the team. He loved sports, especially basketball, boating, teasing his younger brother Ben, road trips, country music, and loved anything BYU! He had the natural gift of “inclusion” and made friends easily! We will miss our Max Man!

According to a case study published in the NIH National Library of Medicine: “We report the first case of peritonitis that was diagnosed 2 days after first dose of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and that recurred after second and third dose of vaccine.”

A 62-year-old man, with no past medical history apart from hyperlipidaemia treated with statins, presented 2 days after he received the first dose of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine with diffused abdominal pain associated with nausea. Clinical examination showed generalised abdominal tenderness more severe in the left iliac fossa. Blood testes showed C-reactive protein (CRP) of 150 mg/L and an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 39. Computed tomography of the abdomen confirmed evidence of diffused peritonitis with appendicitis and few diverticula laterally near the iliac region with thickening of its wall with surrounding edematous changes and fat stranding.

The first peritonitis required hospitalisation and intravenous antibiotic (piperacillin/tazobactam and metronidazole). Significant improvement of abdominal pain and decreased inflammatory markers were seen within a few days.

With the second and third dose of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, the patient again experienced symptoms of abdominal pain 2 days after the vaccine, but the pain was less severe and the patient required no hospitalisation, although inflammatory markers were high. He received an oral antibiotic (metronidazole and ciprofloxacin), with good response.