By Walter Elliott
NEWARK – Memories of 12-year-old student-athlete Elijah Moore – and questions surrounding his Feb. 10 death here at West Side Park during a football practice – remain after his last rites were conducted here at the park Feb. 18 and in Summit Feb. 21.
Brown’s viewing and funeral service were held Tuesday morning at Summit’s Fountain Baptist Church, where he and his family were attending.
A more public memorial, featuring a release of blue and white star balloons, was held Saturday afternoon on the same gridiron where Brown collapsed.
Feb. 10, said family, friends and teammates, was proceeding like most Fridays for Brown.
Brown had arrived home from his Sixth Grade studies at the nearby KIPP: Rise Academy Charter School that afternoon. While English and Science were his favorite subjects, he also enjoyed singing, dancing and football.
Brown and younger brother Davion suited up for football practice and headed to West Side Park. They were members of the private Essex County Predators youth football league. The Bloomfield-based squad was having a light, no tackle drill.
Mother Raven Brown said she got a phone call from Davion later on – and told her that something had happened to Elijah.
“My son said that Elijah was standing near him and just fell down,” said Raven Brown. “I asked, ‘What are they doing?’ He said they were fanning him and pouring water on him. I said, ‘I’m on my way.’ “
Raven Brown called 911, gathered daughters Mekhi, Sanai, Skai and Faith and dashed off to the park. She would learn that other coaches and adults had earlier twice called 911.
They thought that their calls would be going to the Newark Police Fourth Precinct at 247 16th Ave. 911 calls, instead of going to the police station to the park’s north, went to a countywide dispatcher who would call for an ambulance.
The mother and others at the scene said that an ambulance arrived around 35 minutes after their first call.
Raven Brown meanwhile discovered that the Predators head coach had left the park before Elijah’s collapse, delegating drill supervision to an assistant coach.
Mother Brown also learned that no one at the scene knew Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – CPR.
The EMS ambulance that had arrived rushed the unresponsive Elijah Brown to University Hospital – where he was later declared dead.
The response to Brown’s collapse here highly contrasted with the Jan. 2 response to NFL player Damar Hamlin at Cincinnati’s PayCor Stadium. The second-year Buffalo Bills safety stood up from being tackled by a Cincinnati Bengals player and fell to the ground unconscious.
Medics who approached Hamlin on the field found that he had a cardiac arrest and got his heart beating again while there. Hamlin raised his arm to the stadium crowd while EMS technicians loaded him on their ambulance to nearby Cincinnati University Hospital.
Hamlin would be released, walking out of Buffalo General Medical Center, Jan. 11 to continue his rehabilitation at the Bills training facility.
American Heart Association statistics show that 11 percent of people who have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital without CPR or immediate treatment survive. The survival rate climbs to 30 percent when CPR is used.
Hamlin and the AHA have meanwhile launched a 3forHeart Challenge social media campaign Feb. 1. The campaign encourages people to learn CPR through a 60 second video clip, share that video with others on social media and donate to the AHA to continue its CPR education and training.
There is a 2015 state law where at least five people in a public high school are to be trained and certified to apply CPR. Those adults are to be present at an athletic contest or practice.
That law does not apply to private sports leagues. A 2017 requirement amendment extension was vetoed by then-Gov. Chris Christie.
Representatives from RWJBarnabas Health were at Brown’s Feb. 18 memorial, giving out CPR education kits. The kits include inflatable head and torso dummies for practice.
Raising Elijah Jordan Brown-Garcia, who was born here Dec. 27, 2010, was also shared by father Devon Stradford and stepfather Rodney Garcia. Grandmothers Donna Brown and Janet Stradford and grandfathers Jeffrey Latimore, Kevin Boyd and Curtis Scott are also among his mourners.
Brown’s cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy conducted by the Regional Medical Examiner.
The Newark Police Department, the Essex County Department of Parks and Recreation, University Hospital and the Predators youth league have referred further questions to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
A GoFundMe.com page was activated Feb. 11-21 to receive contributions towards Brown’s funeral expenses.
