Atlas Fraley

Atlas Fraley, 17, died following a high school football scrimmage in his home on Aug. 12, 2008. Fraley, a student at Chapel Hill High School, had complained of muscle cramps and headache during and after the scrimmage.

Fraley called Orange County EMS at 1:45 p.m. after returning home and asked for intravenous fluids to treat his self-diagnosed dehydration. James Griffin, the paramedic who came to Fraley’s house in response to his call, told him to hydrate and work out his muscle cramps. When Fraley’s parents came home that evening, they found their son dead on the floor surrounded by bottles of water and Gatorade.

The autopsy, which was released March 18, 2009, more than 7 months after Fraley’s death, stated the cause of Fraley’s death as “undetermined natural causes.” The N.C. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. John Butts, who presided over the case, raised the possibility of cardiac arrest or asthma attack as causes of death.

Griffin, resigned 15 days after the athlete’s death.