Coroner: Teen at Aspen basketball camp died from heart trouble

ASPEN – The Canadian teenager who died Monday after collapsing at a basketball camp in Aspen had a pre-existing heart condition, according to the Pitkin County coroner.

Dr. Steve Ayers, coroner, said Wednesday that a preliminary investigation into Quinn Evering’s death indicates his death was natural – cardiac arrhythmia secondary to aortic valve disease.

“Basically, he had some heart defects that would have caused him to have an arrhythmia – an abnormal heart rhythm,” Dr. Ayers said.

Evering had been previously diagnosed with the condition, he said.

The 16-year-old Toronto resident was taking part in the Aspen Basketball Academy’s senior session, for boys in sixth through 12th grades. The camp had just started Monday; he collapsed on the basketball court while he was taking part in a passing drill, and was later pronounced dead at Aspen Valley Hospital.

The camp is scheduled to conclude Thursday.