17-Year-Old Basketball Player Dies Suddenly at Home, Coroner Reports Cause of Death

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Max Sorenson, a 17-year-old high school basketball player, died last week.

Sorenson’s obituary said that his death was “due to complications from injuries sustained playing basketball.”

Campbell County Coroner Paul Wallem reported the cause of death as peritonitis. Peritonitis is an infection of the tissue lining the abdomen.

It was reported that Sorenson suffered an injury of some type in a previous game.

The Cowboy State Daily, a local newspaper, said that a young man “had a medical event at home and was pronounced dead at Campbell Memorial Hospital.”

His obituary said, “Max had an incredible work ethic and was very disciplined.”

“His focus was evidenced by his achievements at school, on the basketball court, at church, and in social activities.”

“Even more important than those successes were his welcoming smile, kind eyes, curly locks, and loving personality, which made friendship with him easy and comfortable and was felt by everyone.”

Sorenson had been inducted into the National Honor Society at Thunder Basin High School.

Sorenson’s English teacher sent the young man’s parents a letter after taking his son to watch one of his basketball games.

The teacher said, “I just wanted to let you know what an amazing son you have! Max is a tremendous role model for all kids, and I’m glad my son got to see him play. I look forward to watching many more games this season.”

The obituary concluded with, “His love for basketball was matched only by his passion for other outdoor sports and activities like golf, wake surfing, and wakeboarding at the lake, cruising the side-by-side in the hills with his dad, and any excuse to hang out with all of his friends and cousins.”

The Thunder Basin basketball coach said, “We let the boys decide if they wanted to come to that.”

“And they ultimately decided they wanted to come and play for Max and basically be together.”

More on this story via Western Journal.

The Cowboy Daily also said that he was on the school’s state championship basketball team last year and was a starting player this year as a junior.

The teen’s unexpected death made headlines across the nation and even overseas, with outlets such as the EuroWeeklyNews sharing the news and reposting social media tributes to the young athlete.