AUC Mourns Fallen Athlete

By Ahmed Refai and Mina Markous

Hundreds of students, faculty and staff held a funeral prayer in Bartlett Plaza on Sunday for Omar Khaled, 18, a freshman and offensive guard on the AUC Titans American football team who died after an injury sustained during a game this weekend.

Khaled had difficulty breathing after being struck by another player’s helmet to the chest, and was transported to the campus clinic in a club car.

Clinic doctor Mohamed Barakat attempted to give him CPR, but that failed and an ambulance was called to transport him to the nearby Air Force Specialized Hospital.

“In the ambulance, I was alternating with the doctor between giving Omar CPR and holding the oxygen mask to his face,” said Mohammed Abd-El-Kareem, a close friend of Khaled’s who was in the ambulance.

Staff at the Air Force Hospital were unable to resuscitate Khaled, and he was pronounced dead at 6:10 pm.

A statement from the university said that Khaled’s tragic death is being reviewed to “ensure all emergency care procedures were followed, as well as reviewing the requirements for student athletes to participate in sports”.