Cathy Clinton fought back the tears as she remembered Ryan Gillyard, a 15-year-old high school football player who collapsed and died during a training workout over the weekend.
“It’s an absolute nightmare,” Clinton said. “I was hoping I would get a phone call saying it was a joke. But it wasn’t.”
Funeral information was released Monday for the Upper Darby teen, who attended St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. A viewing for Gillyard will be held Friday from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s. A funeral mass will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Denis Church in Havertown. It will be followed by a burial at the parish's cemetery.
Clinton told NBC10 her son was a close friend of Ryan’s and they attended school together when they were younger.
“He’s 15,” Clinton said. “And my son and him are friends and I don’t know how to explain this to him. I don’t know how to tell a 14-year-old that he’s never gonna see him again.”
Gillyard was at spring conditioning training at the St. Joseph’s Prep practice field on Cecil B. Moore Avenue at 11th Street in Philadelphia Saturday morning when he suddenly collapsed. He was taken to Temple University Hospital where he later died.
Gillyard’s final tweet, which was posted early Saturday morning, was retweeted over 600 times as friends and family shared their condolences.
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“The community as a whole was just shocked,” said Jeffrey Terrell, a neighbor and family friend. “It’s unfathomable.”
Loved ones described Gillyard as a renaissance man with a big smile and an even bigger heart.
“He did everything,” Clinton said. “He played football. He played basketball. He liked music. He did our school play. Nobody will ever forget him. Ever.”
The Cardinal Foley relay team plan on wearing armbands in Gillyard’s honor when they compete in the Penn Relays on Tuesday.
Investigators have not yet determined a cause of death. The Medical Examiner’s Office told NBC10 a result likely won’t be released for another six to eight weeks.
