64-Year-Old Hockey Player Dies After Puck Strikes Him in the Chest

A 64-year-old amateur ice hockey player suddenly collapsed and died last week after he was hit in the chest with a puck during a game, according to several reports.

Louis Foster died on March 25 after taking a puck to the chest while playing goaltender during his amateur league game at the Community First Igloo center in Jacksonville, Fla., according to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office incident report obtained by PEOPLE.

A grandfather and father of two, Foster “dedicated his life to making the lives of those around him better,” his obituary reads.

“Days with Greg were filled with joy, passion and laughter,” the memorial continued. “He selflessly cared for others and lived in such a way that his absence will be felt deeply and by so many.”

Foster was playing goaltender for the local Kraken Beers amateur team when he was reportedly struck in the chest with the puck, according to the ice rink’s website. After Foster left the ice, he complained of feeling unwell before collapsing, according to police.

Aaron Hastings, who works at the ice rink, told News 4 Jax that he rushed over to give Foster CPR after another employee alerted him that Foster wasn’t moving behind the team’s bench.

“I started doing compressions and light breaths, and we hit them with the AED twice and someone else jumped in and continued compressions after I switched out. Rescue showed up probably about five minutes after we called,” Hastings told the outlet. He added that Foster had been wearing a “heavy chest pad” when he was struck and noted he was a goalie who got hit in the chest “all the time.”

First Coast News also reported that after bystanders attempted to give Foster CPR, he was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Police say Foster’s family was in attendance at the game and went with him to the hospital.

Although no official cause of death has been determined by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, one local medical expert told First Coast News they believed Foster suffered commotio cordis, a heart condition that’s caused when a blow to the chest happens at the exact right moment required to cause an irregular heart rhythm.

The condition is what caused Buffalo Bills cornerback Damar Hamlin to collapse and nearly die after taking a seemingly routine hit to the chest during an NFL game in 2023. 

Dr. Gordon F. Tomaselli, a medical official with the American Heart Association, said after the Hamlin incident that commotio cordis is “a rare cardiac arrest immediately following a blow to the chest” that “induces a potentially lethal heart rhythm disturbance, or arrhythmia, called ventricular fibrillation.”

A spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told PEOPLE on Monday that the investigation into Foster’s death “is still active.”

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Meanwhile, Foster’s friends and family continued to pay tribute to the former high school math teacher in dozens of memorial posts online over the weekend.

“Greg’s kindness and care touched the lives of his students, his family, his friends who were like family, casual acquaintances, and every person who handled his carry-out orders in the greater Baltimore and Gainesville areas,” Foster’s obituary reads. “He showed love and warmth so freely and was loved by so many.”