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St. Joseph's Prep mourning death of football player Ryan Gillyard, 15, at spring workouts

All Ryan Gillyard wanted this past Christmas was a rope ladder and a set of field cones.

Ryan Gillyard, left. (Courtesy: Instagram, provided by friend)
Ryan Gillyard, left. (Courtesy: Instagram, provided by friend)Read more

All Ryan Gillyard wanted this past Christmas was a rope ladder and a set of field cones.

The 15-year-old St. Joseph's Prep freshman was determined to play Division I college football, and, despite the rigorous workouts he endured at Prep, he wanted to keep doing drills at home.

"That's how dedicated he was to football," his mother, Shannon Gillyard, said Saturday.

On Saturday, the Upper Darby Township teenager, who had no known previous health problems, collapsed and died during the team's spring conditioning at its Cecil B. Moore Avenue practice field, shocking the closely knit school community.

Family members say they believe he died of a heart attack, though they were awaiting autopsy results.

"My husband had just dropped him off, he was about 20 minutes into the drills, and my son just collapsed," Shannon Gillyard said.

Jeffrey Gillyard said his son was jumping rope when he fell to the ground. An ambulance crew worked on him for about 25 minutes, including administering CPR, before rushing him to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, family members said.

"It's just a sad day," Prep's athletic director, Jim Murray, said. "People are mourning the loss of a young man. They're gathering at the school to be together."

Ryan was a varsity linebacker and running back, school officials said.

"He was a great kid. Loved football, loved the Prep," Jeffrey Gillyard said. "He was always into conditioning his body . . . and working hard on his grades."

Gillyard would come home from practices and do his homework. He then would do some crunches before bed, his mother recalled.

He had played football since he was 6, first in Pop Warner Football, then for St. Denis Catholic School, in Havertown, where he attended middle school.

He also played basketball for St. Denis and in the Philadelphia Police Athletic League.

In 2011, his St. Denis basketball team won the CYO Region 32 championships.

Gillyard kept in touch with his St. Denis friends and was also close with several neighborhood friends. Some of his Upper Darby friends stopped by his parents' house Saturday afternoon and shared their favorite stories about Ryan.

"We used to always push each other" in sports, said Angelo Lawton, 16, of Upper Darby. "He was always motivating and outgoing."

Ryan lived with his parents and older brother, Jeffrey Jr., on a small block lined with twin homes on a one-way street.

"He was so compassionate. . . . I hurt my knees, and Ryan would stretch me every night," his mother said. "He would cook me dinner."

On Friday, he came home from school, excited about the warm weather, and grabbed a ball.

"He was throwing the ball around with the 4- and 6-year-olds," Shannon Gillyard said. "Ryan was just the type of kid, very sociable, he could fit in everywhere."

That was evident in the messages posted on Twitter by several friends and teammates after word of Gillyard's death spread.

@Joeeeeeet, a Saint Joe's Prep player in the Class of '17, tweeted: "A freshman. His whole high school experience ahead of him along with his life. Rest in peace Ryan."

@billyboyle55-86 tweeted: "You'll be in my heart and prayers. You're a true prep brother who exemplified what it means to be hard working and Loving."

Murray encouraged the St. Joe's community, including students and Prep players who knew Gillyard, to seek counseling.

School spokesman Bill Avington said that counselors would be available all weekend and on Monday, when students return to school. Services had not yet been scheduled.

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Inquirer staff writers Rick O'Brien and Aaron Carter contributed to this article.