Robertsdale High School Mourned Teen’s Death in 2007
The Baldwin County coroner said Robertsdale High School football player Matthew Lanzer, 16, died of a blood clot that formed after a leg injury, not a spider bite.
ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Robertsdale High School football player Matthew Lanzer died from a blood clot that formed after a leg injury and traveled to his lungs, the Baldwin County coroner said, citing autopsy results.
Lanzer, 16, died on Sept. 8, 2007.
Family members said he had been treated earlier for a spider bite. The coroner said the bite did not cause his death.
School responds
Robertsdale High School offered grief counseling to students. The school also planned to retire Lanzer’s No. 44 football jersey.
More than 1,200 students, friends and faculty members attended a memorial service in the school gym in the days after his death. “We don’t know why this has happened. We’re going to try to find out,” the family said at the time.
Lanzer was buried Sept. 12 at Valhalla Memorial Gardens in Eight Mile.
A blood clot that forms in a deep vein, often in the leg, and then travels to the lungs is called a pulmonary embolism. It is a medical emergency. Robertsdale High School is part of the Baldwin County Public Schools system.
