Parents: Ryan is 'running with God' now

The Stark County coroner’s office will conduct blood tests and tissue analysis.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BELOIT — The parents of a 17-year-old West Branch High School student who died during a track meet say their son is “Running with God.”

Ryan Johnson, a junior on the school’s track team, ran his leg of the 4x800-meter relay race Tuesday, talked briefly with his coach, then collapsed. Coaches and emergency personnel administered first aid and CPR before he was transported to Alliance Community Hospital where he died.

Ryan’s father, Roy, was a time keeper at the meet and his mother, Linda, was watching from the stands.

Both saw their son fall and people surrounded him to perform CPR.

“There were so many people who were trying to help,” Roy Johnson said, “Then he was taken to the hospital and the doctors did what they needed to do and even called a doctor at Akron Children’s Hospital. They did everything they needed to do. It just wasn’t enough.”

The couple, eyes rimmed in red, talked about their son Wednesday in front of the family’s Valley Road home in Damascus.

An autopsy by the Stark County Coroner’s office was inconclusive and more tests are planned.

A news release from the coroner’s office said there are no signs of trauma or bleeding and the cause of death will be determined after tissue analysis and blood tests. Results are expected in four to six weeks.

Ryan suffered from no known health problems, his parents said.

Besides being a four-sport athlete, participating in track, cross country, basketball and soccer, Ryan was active in the youth group at Damascus United Methodist Church. He traveled on mission trips with the church group the last several summers.

When his father made a shirt for him, bearing his track number, Ryan thanked him but made another request.

“He said, ‘Can I have the church cross on the shirt?’” his father said. “He wanted to run with God. We believe he’s running with God now too.”

The couple, who also have a daughter, Erica, 11, attribute their strength through the ordeal to their faith in God as well.

“Erica went to school today because she wanted to be with her friends,” Linda said.

The family also appreciates the support they continue to receive from the community, she said.

“There were hundreds of people at the hospital,” Roy said. “After they left the hospital, the kids just decided to go to the school. They opened the school for the people.”

“The kids stayed there till 10:00 last night,” Linda added.

West Branch Superintendent Dr. Scott Weingart had known Ryan for several years, serving as the elementary school principal while the boy was in that school.

“He was a very active kid and a great kid,” the superintendent said.

Ryan finished his portion of the relay Tuesday, his coach, Tracy Wyatt-Orwick, told him his time of two minutes and four seconds.

“His time was one second off of his personal best time,” Weingart said.

After speaking with Wyatt-Orwick, Ryan dropped. He never regained consciousness, Weingart said.

The young athlete was also a good student and involved in the school’s chapter of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, mentoring an elementary school boy. He participated in the school’s environmental club and the Junior Ruriteens.

The school’s counselors and members of the area ministerial association were at the school Wednesday, offering help to both students and staff.

Bob Altenhof is one of the school counselors as well as the coach of the girls’ track team. He’s known Ryan since the boy was young. Altenhof also is a member of Damascus United Methodist Church. His children and Ryan attended Sunday school together.

“In all the years I knew Ryan, I never knew him to say or do a mean thing to anyone,” Altenhof said.

Many of the girls from the track team who have spoken to Altenhof, regretted things left unsaid to their classmate.

“They said that Ryan was always the one to congratulate them when they ran well,” he said. “They expressed regret that they hadn’t done the same for him.”

Altenhof summed up the mood at the school of about 800 students as somber, something Ryan wasn’t.

Ryan had a great sense of humor, according to Matt Thomas, Ryan’s soccer coach and freshman history teacher.

You could joke with Ryan, Thomas said. He didn’t get angry at gentle ribbing from his coaches or team mates.

“He had this smile that everyone just remembered,” the soccer coach said.

The track teams’ next meet is the Mahoning County meet Saturday in Austintown and they plan to compete.

“Ryan’s parents came to the school this morning and told us that Ryan would want us to go to the meet,” Altenhof said.

Ryan was a team player, his parents explained.