Spokane7
48°
September 28, 2009 in City
High school football player dies from head injury
Members of the Valley Christian Panther football team signed teammate Andrew “Drew” Swank’s helmet and jersey Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, after he died Sunday evening from head injuries he received in a football game Friday night. (J. BART RAYNIAK bartr@spokesman.com)
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
A 17-year-old high school football player from Spokane died after suffering a head injury during a game Friday night.
Andrew “Drew” Fremont Swank, a junior at Valley Christian School, was pronounced dead at 9:42 p.m. Sunday, according to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Swank was a star player for the school’s football program, which began in fall 2007, according to news archives. The team was playing Washtucna High School at Washtucna, south of Ritzville.
His organs will be donated, according to a news release from the school.
“He is a Christian and a hero,” the news release said. “Drew is now in heaven with God. He is a true testament of faith in God.”
Swank is survived by his parents, four sisters and three brothers.
“His family loves him so much and is so appreciative of everyone’s thoughts and prayers,” the news release said.
A fund to help pay for medical costs has been set up at STCU under the name Andrew Swank.
The school will hold an assembly today to discuss Swank’s death.
Human trafficking suspects released 
UnclFester on October 02 at 2:24 a.m.
My thoughts and prayers, as well as those of my family, go out to Drew’s family. My sincerest thanks go out to them as well.
I’m a forty-nine year old heart transplant recipient, living near Seattle. In 2002, I was down to months left, and if it hadn’t been for the incredible gift I received at such a horrible time in someone else’s life, I wouldn’t have lived to meet my wife and my stepchildren.
Thank you doesn’t begin to cover it, but thank you to the Swank family. People like you, able to bring something worthwhile from something so very tragic, are why people like me are still alive, and hopefully able to keep contributing to society.