Negligence cited in death of rising star

Source: Agencies  |   2008-10-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A RUSSIAN lawmaker suggested yesterday that rising star Alexei Cherepanov may have died due to negligence on the part of the paramedics who responded to the emergency call.

Cherepanov, a 19-year-old first-round draft pick for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, died on Monday during a Continental Hockey League game outside of Moscow.

Russian investigators said Cherepanov suffered from chronic ischemia, a medical condition when not enough blood gets to the heart or other organs.

Pavel Krasheninnikov, who sits on the Russian Hockey Federation's supervisory council and is a member of the State Duma, said there was no ambulance on duty at the Moscow region arena where Cherepanov's Russian team, Avangard Omsk, was playing.

He asserted emergency workers took too long to respond and didn't have a defibrillator - a medical machine that shocks the heart. It was unclear how much time it took paramedics to respond.

"There are elements of negligence here," Krasheninnikov said in televised comments.

Moscow regional investigator Yulia Zhukova said officials would be looking into why he was playing with ischemia, and said officials could open a criminal investigation.

Russia's hockey community, and sporting world in general, was stunned by the incident. The death topped TV newscasts all day yesterday.

"The most important thing was his character," Igor Semyonov, a hockey coach with Avangard's youth training school, said. "You understand that for a hockey player, for an athlete in general, the most important thing is character."

Former Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr played a shift with Cherepanov and was talking to Cherepanov on the bench shortly after they left the ice, when Cherepanov suddenly collapsed, said a Rangers spokesman who talked to Jagr.