South Carolina youth sports umpire collapses, dies from heat stroke

A 61-year-old youth sports umpire died over the weekend from heat stroke after passing out during a softball tournament in Sumter County, South Carolina.

A 61-year-old youth sports umpire died over the weekend from heat stroke after passing out during a softball tournament in Sumter County, South Carolina.

Michael Huggins was officiating a game Saturday at Patriot Park when he collapsed, his sister told NBC affiliate WIS of Columbia. According to Weather Underground, temperatures had climbed as high as 91 degrees on Saturday.

Umpire Mitchell Huggins.Handout via WISHuggins was rushed to the hospital, where he regained consciousness before passing out again, according to the news station. He was later pronounced dead.

The Sumter County Coroner’s Office confirmed that his cause of death has been preliminarily ruled as heat stroke.

On Wednesday, a woman died from heat exhaustion after being outside in extreme temperatures, the Anderson County Office of the Coroner said in a news release. It was the county’s first heat-related death of the year.