ASU Hockey Player Remains in Coma After Suffering Heat Stroke During Workout

An Arizona State University (ASU) hockey player remains hospitalized after collapsing during an outdoor team workout last month, according to the university.

Matthew Mayich, 21, a sophomore defenseman from Stoney Creek, Ontario, became unresponsive during the morning workout on Aug. 20 at Sun Angel Stadium on the ASU campus in Tempe.

Emergency responders were called to the scene and immediately took Mayich to a hospital. He remains in a coma after suffering an exertional heat-related injury that resulted in a lack of oxygen to his brain. The high temperature in Tempe that day was 106.

Attorney Robert Carey, who is representing Mayich and his family, said that doctors had determined the injury was irreversible and that the young athlete had no realistic chance of recovery.

“Our focus right now is on our own investigation into what happened on August 20th,” Carey said in a statement. “Only when that is complete will we discuss the options available to the family. The family’s focus is on doing everything that can be done for their son and holding each other together.”

According to Carey, Mayich became disoriented and dizzy before collapsing near the end of the more-than-hour-long, coach-led workout, which he said involved minimal water.

Meanwhile, ASU said in a statement that the workout was a team event attended by coaches, training personnel, and a third-party instructor who had previously worked with the hockey program.

“Sun Devil Athletics also has heat-illness guidelines in place; these guidelines are informed by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association,” read the statement on Sept. 1. “SDA student-athletes regularly practice and train outside, under coach and trainer supervision.”

The university announced that senior vice president James Rund is leading its review into the circumstances surrounding the workout, including “related university policies, procedures, and training protocols.”

“ASU’s only statement so far was to note that coaches and trainers were present to support their claim that this workout was nothing unusual,” Carey said in response. “It doesn’t. It just means ASU’s own people stood there and watched exactly what they dialed up, and had no problem with it, at least the head coach didn’t.

“We will find out down the road if other university employees realized the student-athletes were in jeopardy. I suspect some did.”

The Epoch Times reached out to ASU for further comment on the matter, and a university spokesperson pointed to the university’s latest statement, adding, “That is all the information we can provide at this time.”

The Arizona State University Police Department is conducting a separate investigation into the incident, with Mayich’s family also calling for an independent investigation into what exactly occurred during the workout.

Mayich transferred to Arizona State after playing his freshman season at Clarkson University in northern New York. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.