by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

BRISTOL, FL – Those who raised him, coached him, taught him, shared classes with him and played against him are struggling to deal with the unexpected death of a Port St. Joe High School star athlete who collapsed on the football field in Bristol last night and died a short time later.

Chance Gainer had just turned 18 last month.

“He was just one of those rare kids.  He really did have it all,” said Gulf County School Superintendent Jim Norton.

“He was our star athlete. The football team was built around him,” Norton said. “He had world class speed in baseball and his GPA was north of 4.0.”

Everyone saw nothing less than a bright future ahead for Chance.  “He had recently taken a trip to Vanderbilt University and was excited about the possibility of going there,” he said.

The superintendent describes the Port St. Joe student as a non-assuming quiet person who was gracious to the younger students who looked up to him.  “All the kids loved him,” Norton said.

“He was a humble person, someone you’d want to be your son or marry your daughter,” said Sandy Quinn, who was both Chance’s next door neighbor and basketball coach.

“We’re devastated.  The elementary school kids loved him,” he said.  “On the field, on the court and in the school hallways, they just loved him.  In their eyes, he was a superstar.”

He said he did not know of any health issue with Chance, and didn’t think his family was aware of any possible medical problem he could of had.

“They had no reason think he was anything other than an healthy 18-year-old kid,” he said.

He said the Liberty County coaching staff and players embraced Chance’s family last night, gathering at the emergency room in Blountstown when they learned he had died.  “We really do appreciate the outpouring of support we got from Calhoun and Liberty County,” he said. 

•  •  •  •  •

Chance had already scored two touchdowns, including a 70-yard run, in the first half.  The visiting Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks were well ahead of their Liberty County hosts.

Kyle Peddie – who serves as Liberty County  School  Superintendent, is a long-time pastor here and has announced the football games for nearly 35 years  – wound up serving in all three capacities during last night’s tragedy.

He said they were about halfway through the third quarter when the play headed for the sidelines.  He saw Chance go to the middle of the field and fall over.

The coaching staff went to him and realized something was seriously wrong.  “I’ve seen a lot of injuries on the field,” Peddie said.  This one was different.    He picked up the binoculars he keeps at his side during the games and trained them on Chance.  “There was just no response from the kid,” he said.  “I knew this was bad.”

As the coach signaled to the ambulance crew parked near the field, Peddie called for them over the loudspeaker.  EMTs put Chance on a gurney,  took him behind the bench on the visitor’s side and then moved him into the ambulance and rushed him to the emergency room at Calhoun-Liberty Hospital.

“I could see them scrambling to attend to him,” Peddie said as his concern continued to grow.  Over the loudspeaker, he urged onlookers to pray for the fallen player and led them in The Lord’s Prayer.

The game resumed and was over in about four minutes.

Superintendent Norton said later that evening that Chance did not have a pulse when EMTS first reached him but they were able to get one before putting him in the ambulance.

•  •  •  •  •

Just minutes before the end of the fourth quarter, Gulf County School Superintendent Jim Norton phoned Peddie.  “He asked me to send a deputy to the other side of the field to tell the head coach to get to the hospital and the let the assistant coach finish the game,” he said. 

“I found out after the game was over that he had passsed,” Peddie said.

Peddie went to the locker room, spoke with the coaches and then relayed the sad news to the team that Chance had died.  “They were shell-shocked,” he said. He then began making arrangements to have grief counselors at the high school Monday morning for students who needed help dealing with the unexpected loss.  “You want to make sure these kids are supported mentally.  They’ve not lived long enough to grasp the depth of what has happened,” he explained.

He said Superintendent Norton had grief counselors waiting late that night for the team and family members when they returned to Port St. Joe.

Peddie called Calhoun County School Superintendent Darrell Taylor – whose team was scheduled to play the Tiger Sharks the next week – to give him the news.  Both men headed to the hospital, where many people from the game were gathering.

“I’ve been in the Press Box for 35 years and never saw anything like this before,” Peddie said.  “Being a pastor and a school superintendent, there’s no way to sugar coat it … We just thank God for another sunrise.”