Rowan Stringer’s rugby death leads to coroner’s inquest
Ottawa teen taken off life support a few days after hitting her head during a game
The Ontario coroner’s office will be looking into the 2013 death of a teenage girl from Ottawa injured while playing rugby, it announced Thursday.
Rowan Stringer, 17, died May 12, 2013, after suffering a head injury while playing for John McCrae Secondary School four days earlier.
Her parents Gordon and Kathleen said she had hit her head and neck on the ground after a hard tackle, losing consciousness a few moments later and never waking back up.
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They also said she had been hit in the head twice in the week before the final injury and were hoping her death could be used to educate others when they spoke to CBC News in the days following her death.
At the time, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board said it would be reviewing its procedures after her death, saying coaches were trained to look for signs of injury.
Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, the supervising coroner for the Ottawa area, said the inquest will look into the circumstances of her death and could make recommendations with the goal of preventing similar ones.
The date, location and other details of the inquest were not released.