A high school hockey player suddenly died after leaving the rink with a headache and later collapsing.
Nick Bond, 18, died while surrounded by relatives and close friends on Monday, one day after leaving the ice at Wissahickon Skating Club in Philadelphia, where the high school senior collapsed and was rushed to Einstein Medical Center to undergo surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
“He was a fiery and skilled competitor who believed that success on and off the ice was built on teamwork and friendship,” Kevin Hamel, the club’s president, said in a statement. “Year after year Nick was selected by his teammates and coaches as team captain. He [led] with confidence and compassion.”
Despite being undersized for a hockey player, Bond played well beyond his frame and served as mentor to younger players at the rink.
“Though somewhat diminutive, Nick fearlessly challenged every opposing player regardless of size,” Hamel’s statement continued. “He was, without question, the epitome of what we want most in our children. Most recently, Nick was passing along those valued traits to our younger generation of skaters as he volunteered time with the squirt hockey skaters and the basic skills program.”
Bond scored a goal during Sunday’s game before telling his father and coach, Rob Bond, that he had a headache. Coaches and parents told Philly.com that they didn’t see Bond take any blows to the head nor did he tell anyone he had been hit.
Bond died from complications from blunt-impact head trauma, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office said on Tuesday. The office ruled his death an accident, Philly.com reports.
Bond seemingly came from a hockey-obsessed family: His father had been Nick’s coach “since the beginning,” according to Hamel, while his mother was the “rock of the family” who attended virtually every practice, every game, and team pot luck dinners on Saturday nights.
Bond’s popularity in the youth hockey scene throughout Philadelphia was evident on a Facebook tribute to him posted by the Old York Road Raiders, a team based in nearby Elkins Park.
“Our hearts are heavy with this terrible loss,” read the tribute posted on the team’s page Tuesday.
“I remember saying how cool this kid was when we were playing against him,” one post read. “Such a shame … good competitor, skilled player, and a great personality from what I’ve seen. Such a shame. The Bond family, and Wissahickon club peers are in my prayers.”
Another post by the mother of a younger hockey player said Bond had a “big smile on his face” while teaching her son how to skate.
“But what I did not realize is how much impact he had on my 8-year-old,” the woman wrote, adding that her son — with tears in his eyes — recalled a recent training session with Nick.
“He was a tough coach during the camps but we did not really care because he always ended up make us laugh,” the woman posted in her child’s words. “Last Friday, I was struggling with the last move of level 8, Ron and him wanted me to do the move 100% of the time … not 1% of the time … I was mad and he helped me, encouraged me through it and I passed … can I go visit his grave?”
Bond is survived by three older brothers, his father, Rob, and his mother, Margaret, who works as a crossing guard for the Springfield Township School District.
Dennis Primavera, the baseball coach at Springfield Township High School, said Bond was universally liked at the school in Montgomery County.
“The entire community has been hit real hard by this,” Primavera told Philly.com. “Stuff like this, where a great kid dies so young, shouldn’t happen.”