A 13-year-old Bolingbrook boy died Wednesday night after collapsing at basketball practice in Plainfield, authorities said.
Dramon Ratcliff, an eighth-grader at Kennedy Middle School in Plainfield, collapsed while practicing with a team at Plainfield Central High School, according to Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 spokesman Tom Hernandez.
He was taken to Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead at 8:24 p.m., according to the Will County coroner’s office.
An autopsy Thursday indicated Dramon had a previously undiagnosed heart condition, according to the coroner’s office.
A final cause of death will be based on further testing, according to the coroner’s office.
The team Dramon was playing with Wednesday is not affiliated with the district but was using the high school’s gym, Hernandez said.
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Paramedics got a call about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to Plainfield Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Jon Stratton.
“The hospital was unsuccessful in reviving him,” Stratton said.
Hernandez said he did not know the name of the league for which Dramon was playing when he collapsed.
An alert call was placed Thursday to all district parents, Hernandez said, and crisis counselors were on hand for students.
“We extend our most sincere condolences to the student’s family and friends during this time of grief and loss,” Hernandez said. “It is tragic any time a young person passes away.”
No funeral home has been named yet, according to the coroner’s office.
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