High School Cheerleader Collapses During Football Game and Dies

A high school cheerleader in Los Angeles died early Saturday, hours after collapsing on the sideline during a football game.

Angela Gettis, a 16-year-old sophomore, was briefly revived after passing out on the field Friday night, but died three hours later in the hospital.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District told local ABC affiliate KABC-TV that Gettis had an apparent cardiac arrest.

Gettis was a top student and planned to go to college to study forensic science. Los Angeles school district Superintendent John Deasy said Saturday the girl was "a wonderful young lady. It is a catastrophic loss for the school and for the community. My heart goes out to her family."

Friends and mourners quickly took to Facebook to remember Gettis.

"I just want people to remember the heart she had. She was very kind," Angela Kirkindoff, Gettis' aunt, told KABC.

A witness, Cameron Bonner, told City News Service the Washington Prep squad the game was tied in the fourth quarter when the cheerleader collapsed. Play was stopped and coaches and trainers ran to help the girl.

"They had just tied the game up, and the cheerleaders were pumped up," Bonner said. She appeared "to just pass out," he said.

Bystanders performed CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

"All of her friends were in a circle crying," Bonner said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.