Apr 23, 2008 9:28 am US/Eastern
North Andover High School Honors Memory Of Runner
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (WBZ) ―
A senior co-captain of the track team at North Andover High School will be honored Wednesday, just days after his tragic death.
Alex Farese, 17, collapsed moments after he finished a 400-meter race against Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School on April 14.
His mother Roseanne Farese told WBZ his coach said Alex started to slow down during the race.
"Because Alex is Alex he probably pushed himself when he shouldn't have," she said.
They never knew he had a rare heart condition - until after he collapsed.
"They saw him try to take two breaths and he got no air and his friends said to him, 'Alex are you okay?' and he said 'No' and then he fell backwards," she said.
He was rushed to Tufts Medical Center in Boston. He never regained consciousness and died April 21.
His parents told WBZ Alex had run track for three years and never showed any symptoms.
"His heart was always getting a low supply of oxygen blood and the doctor said somehow his heart had learned to compensate for it," said Alex's father, Richard Farese.
Farese was an honors student who had been accepted to six colleges.
The high school is closed for spring vacation. It will be open all week for students who would like to meet with counselors and teachers.
Alex's friends will pay tribute to him Wednesday by walking two miles around the track where he ran so many times.
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