Schools

Dacula High Student Christopher Smith Died of Blood Clot

Smith, 18, suffered a pulmonary embolism when a blood clot traveled from his leg to his lungs, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday.

Officials have identified the Dacula High School student who died in school on Tuesday as Christopher Smith, 18, and say the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.

Gwinnett County Medical Examiner Ted Bailey told the Gwinnett Daily Post that a blood clot moved from Smith's leg to his lungs. He collapsed in the gym and was taken to a hospital.

Smith was the second metro Atlanta person to die from a blood clot in a school this week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lithia Springs High School Assistant Principal Jeffrey Henderson died from a similar condition on Monday.

The AJC reported that 100,000 people in the United States die from blood clots each year.


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