Softball Practice Ground Ball Kills Girl

Michigan 12-Year-Old Was Knocked Unconscious On Field And Died One Day Later

(AP)  A 12-year-old softball player was knocked unconscious when a ball hit her in the head during practice, and she died a day later, police and family said.

Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Hilbrands was hit by a ground ball during a routine infield drill on Monday — a day after the death of a minor-league baseball coach who was struck by a line drive in Arkansas. The Grand Rapids girl died Tuesday at DeVos Children's Hospital.

"She missed the ball. It appears it hit her in the wrong spot. She never regained consciousness," her mother, Jan Hilbrands, told The Grand Rapids Press.

Maggie stopped breathing but her heart was beating after the ball hit her, Lowell Police Chief Jim Valentine told The Associated Press. He said coaches and others at the scene tried to revive her before she was taken to a hospital.

The Kent County medical examiner's office planned to conduct an autopsy Thursday.

Maggie had been set to enter the seventh grade this fall at Grand Rapids Christian Middle School. She had been practicing with teammates on the Lowell Xtreme traveling softball team.

"The team is having a real hard time," her mother said. "This was kind of Maggie's first experience with the traveling team, but she really enjoyed it."

On Sunday, Mike Coolbaugh, a 35-year-old coach for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, died after being struck by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game in Arkansas.

On Tuesday, Pulaski County (Ark.) Coroner Mark Malcolm told the Tulsa World that Coolbaugh died from a loss of blood to the brain after the foul ball hit him on the left side of his neck, rupturing an artery.

Coolbaugh was given CPR on the field, but Malcolm said there was nothing medical personnel could have done to save him.

[mennowoman]

I don't know what to say superchez1. Why are you against helmets for children?

[inmo-2009]

what is wrong with you Do you not see that this precious ittle girls life could have been saved. What is wrong with helmets? I can tell you 100 percent that I would rather put a helmet one my child then take the chance of them falling off of a bike or ATV and dying. I think hemets are a good diea, all of the way around - lets go ahead and make them a safety precaution for baseball. Superchez may i suggest you play some football withut a helmet, or you get hit in the head with a ball, or fall onto concrete while riding a bike - all with no helmet. Iw ould hope you attitude would change then.

[mgpm-2009]

I'm willing to bet Maggie's mom wished her daughter was wearing a helmet.

My prayers are with this girl and her family.

[kkbecker-2009]

It is very sad what happened, it was a freak accident. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. But as for the helmets, please we are getting to over protective of kids these days, we never wore helmets when we rode bikes and we are fine. No wonder there are so many sissy's and cry babies in the world now adays. Let the kids be kids, toughen them up.

[kaiyo4u]

mennowoman and InMo;

I grew up in the era before ALL the safety regs for children. I rode my bicycle miles (w/o mom's knowledge) and have never had a problem. yes I had scrapes and scratches (sometimes my knees were completely bloodied), but it was also like a right of passage.

You know, a helmet would not have prevented the death of the coach (hit him in the neck).
Sports have risks associated with them, even track and field sports.

Ever fall down while sprinting? I have, not fun. Do you want me to wear the appropriate padding so I won't hurt myself?

Geez...? Life is full of risks and dangers. All we can do is be made aware of them and if we have to face them, take the best course possible with least amount of damage.

superchez1, I'm with you on this point. Yes it is tragic that she lost her life due a freak accident, but how many millions of kids play softball/baseball (organized and unorganized)?

InMO, football w/o a helmet is called rugby.

[rushman71]

Back in the early '90s, my brother was on a young baseball team playing short-stop at the time. One game, as a ball was hit high in his direction, he ran backwards calling the catch. As his focus was on the ball, one of the outfielders was running up to catch it himself, without calling it. He collided with my brother, giving my bro a broken collar bone. He was out the rest of the season.
This could have been prevented, but happened due to poor judgement.
The accident that has taken the life of a young 12 year old girl just fills my heart with sorrow. My condolences goes out to the family and friends.

[rushman71]

kaiyo4u: I agree with you on this. Accidents happen, no matter how concious or protective we could be of ourselves. It did not say in the report where in her head she was hit. Possibly smack dab on her nose. No telling. But if this was a hit in the face, does this call from now on that all kids have to wear helmets with face guards at all times throughout the games. This was just a total freak accident and nothing more.

[sugarmice-2009]

A very very sad accident. That's what it was - sad but true - my prayers are with the family.
Growing up (in the 60's) we never wore helmets. Half the time never wore one while playing baseball. Been hit many times with the ball OH and I was hit in the arm (ouch it does HURT like H*E*L*L) at a AAA game . As kids we rode bikes, jumped from rocks into the lake, played hockey at the local outdoor rink (no pads/helmets/etc)
Kids need to be as said before "toughened up". All this protection and parents fawning over their kids like they are glass - is the reason why all this whining today about can't do this, can't do that, wear this wear that... geez.
Grow up everyone and experience life... it has many many amazing things to offer even though you might break an arm or leg ... oh yea.. remember the time I got hung up on the clothesline - broken arm.. parents YELLED at me and I was grounded for being so dumb - but I am a decent person today making a decent living AND not living off parents or relatives

Hope the family realizes it was an accident and leave it at that - again, prayers to the family during this trying period

[mennowoman]

"Kids need to be as said before "toughened up"." --sugarmice

Well, sugarmice, is Maggie tough enough for you now?

[rushman71]

mennowoman: You totally missed what he said in the first sentence.

[bananaamy]

I am from Grand Rapids, and the news here reported that the ball hit her in the back of the head.

My prayers to the family....

[stace34-2009]

This is very sad. However, accidents happen and there is no amount of saftey equipment that will keep your child 100% safe, unless of course your child is in a buble and never let outside. The problem is right away people say helmets. Unless you a helmet is designed right for the field, it would actually cause more injuries then help prevent them. The number of times that this happenes is probably so small that this freak accident really can't be protected against.

[blackbug99]

In this Mega-Media society of today they have no initiative to report anything new. Hell...Coach hit by ball; Kid hit by ball...Balls are dangerous killers. I grew up with Lawn Jarts (The metal tipped ones), no seatbelt laws, and if the guy nextdoor offered you a dollar to cut the grass it was because his grass needed cutting. It's a sad event but things happen. We can put them all in little styrofoam cocoons or we can just get on with life.

[bananaamy]

GRAND RAPIDS -- An autopsy has been performed on a 12-year-old Grand Rapids girl who died a day after being hit in the head with a softball at practice.

Maggie Hilbrands played for the Lowell Xtreme traveling softball team, which was gearing up for a tournament this weekend. The incident happened Monday and she died Tuesday at a hospital.

Dr. David Start, a forensic pathologist with the Kent County medical examiner's office, said she died due to a vertebral artery laceration that caused a hemorrhage. The ball hit her head, which she jerked to the side, resulting in a tear of an artery. There was a loss of blood to the brain and a sudden drop of blood pressure, which almost always is fatal, according to Dr. Start.

Maggie had no congenital defects that contributed to her death. It was all due to the softball.

[iceman_1960]

What a tragic loss for her family and friends.

I certainly hope the girl who hit the ball received counselling. She must not blame herself.

This is a very isolated incident. Kids who are sedentary and overweight are actually at much greater longterm risk than active athletic kids.

[griking]

It was a terrible accident people but thats exactly what it was, an accident. I suppose if you dress your kid up in a suit of armor before they leave the house in the morning they would be safer but are we going to do this? I'm ok with making helmets optional for kids if they want to wear them but I definitely wouldn't want to see them mandatory to play ball.

[iceman_1960]

"I suppose if you dress your kid up in a suit of armor before they leave the house in the morning they would be safer but are we going to do this?"

Sir Lancelot did that and he still got killed.

[sugarmice-2009]

mennowoman YES she was a tough girl
anyone who plays sports is tough to a point
Obviously YOU are living in a glass ball and have no room for sports in your life WHICH is sad because they teach you discipline and team effort....
I'm sad for the family BUT accidents happen and for you to make a comment like that is rude and disrespectful.
Kids need to be tough these days - physically and mentally and when parents shield them from the world because they are afraid that something might happen to them then the parents are the ones to blame. In this case, the parents allowed her to enjoy baseball which is a very very enjoyable sport and played by millions - no one is to blame here NOT the parents NOT the teammate who hit the ball NOT the coaches... NOT the sport itself. Just a freak accident.
Get a life

[sugarmice-2009]

mennowoman YES she was a tough girl
anyone who plays sports is tough to a point
Obviously YOU are living in a glass ball and have no room for sports in your life WHICH is sad because they teach you discipline and team effort....
I'm sad for the family BUT accidents happen and for you to make a comment like that is rude and disrespectful.
Kids need to be tough these days - physically and mentally and when parents shield them from the world because they are afraid that something might happen to them then the parents are the ones to blame. In this case, the parents allowed her to enjoy baseball which is a very very enjoyable sport and played by millions - no one is to blame here NOT the parents NOT the teammate who hit the ball NOT the coaches... NOT the sport itself. Just a freak accident.
Get a life

[sugarmice-2009]

sorry posted 2x for some reason - wasn't meant to be

[toolmangler-2009]

Ok , if it kills someone then we need to stop using it, get rid of it, outlaw it, write a fatwa against it right? B.S. A neighbor boy of 8 years old catches his toe in the blanket as he got out of bed, Fell and died instantly of a broken neck. My question is this, in order to stop this from happening again do we get rid of the bed, the blanket, the floor or the kid?

[iceman_1960]

"Ok , if it kills someone then we need to stop using it, get rid of it, outlaw it, write a fatwa against it right? B.S."
- Posted by ToolMangler at 09:02 PM : Jul 26, 2007

Of course that's B.S.

Incidents like this tragic accident are extremely rare -- like a golfer being struck by lightning. Should golfing be banned to prevent that ?

The much bigger danger to kids is acquiring lifetime habits of overeating and being sedentary, playing computer games to the exclusion of athletic ones.

"Obesity is a global public health problem. About 1.5 billion adults worldwide are overweight, including more than 400 million who are obese. Two-thirds of Americans are either overweight or obese."

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070726/ap_on_he_me/diet_contagious_fat_5

[iceman_1960]

"no one is to blame here NOT the parents NOT the teammate who hit the ball NOT the coaches... NOT the sport itself. Just a freak accident.
Get a life"
- Posted by sugarmice at 05:44 PM : Jul 26, 2007

I only mentioned counselling for the girl who hit the ball because I know the way kids' minds work. Even though this was not her fault by any stretch of the imagination, kids are prone to dwell on irrational and morbid ideas like that.