Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected. Carter Stone’s procedure took place at an outpatient surgical center in Westlake Village.
Carter Stone attended Agoura High for a single day.
The 15-year-old freshman had his first day of high school on Wednesday. The next day, he missed classes for arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder at an outpatient surgical center in Westlake Village. When complications developed, he was taken to the emergency room at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks.
But the young offensive guard never returned to his soccer team for Friday’s game in Ventura.
Stone died Thursday night after being airlifted to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles due to complications from the surgery, which was later discovered to be a heart tumor linked to an undiagnosed T-cell leukemia, according to Agoura High football coach Dustin Croick.
“It was unknown and undetected prior to surgery,” Croick said. “He was a great boy.”
The son of a former Oak Park High football player and team manager, Stone attended White Oaks Elementary and Lindero Canyon Middle School. His older sister Amelia was previously team manager of Agoura.
“They’re a football family,” Croick said.
Stone started with the Chargers in June.
“This was his high school experience,” Croick said. “His entire high school experience was Agoura football.”
He got up early to train and attend the team’s summer practices.
“Carter just loved it,” Croick said. “He was all for being a freshman footballer. He worked his ass off.”
Stone missed Agoura’s season opener due to a shoulder injury sustained during training camp. Surgery was planned to fix the injury.
There was a moment of silence for Stone after the first quarter of Agoura’s JV game Friday night at Ventura High and before the varsity game.
More: Ventura’s defense holds the line in victory over Agoura, who loses star QB to injury
Both teams started their games with 10 players on the field, without a right guard, which is the position Stone played.
“He loved it. That’s all (the family) kept saying yesterday,” Croick said. “How much he felt like he was part of the team.”
Joe Curley is a staff reporter for the Star. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @vcsjoecurley Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Agoura High Freshman Soccer Player Dies After Surgery Complications
