California Mother of Four Collapses and Later Dies While Trying to Help Injured Son During High School Football Game

A California mother died after she rushed onto the field during a high school football game to check on her son Dillon, a senior who had broken his leg during the game.

Lucinda Daniels, 44, was rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined that she had experienced a stroke. She lost brain activity after enduring a second stroke the following day, local outlet the Mercury News reported.

The incident was part of a string of calamities that struck the Daniels family during the Mountain View High School game Friday evening. On the same night that Lucinda collapsed, Dillon's dad Dale passed out in the stands.

Dillon, meanwhile, is currently wheelchair-bound from the broken leg and ankle dislocation he sustained during the varsity game.

"I think it was a hard blow to him to know that when he got hurt, that happened to his mom," Lucinda Daniels' mother, Olga Gonzalez told Oakland's KTVU-TV.

Daniels, a mother of four, worked as a campus aide and also had a part-time job at a dollar store. An honor walk was held in her honor on Wednesday because she'd decided to donate her organs to others.

Gonzalez said her daughter chose to always put others first, even in her last act: "I knew my daughter was giving to someone who was going to live a better life and been waiting for a long time." 

"She was a really, really good mom," she added. "She was a good football mom, too. Her happiest place was there."

The school considered canceling this evening's game to allow time for the community to mourn, but Dale insisted the game go ahead as scheduled, telling the varsity team's assistant coach it's what Lucinda would have wanted.

Brandon Daniels, Dillon's younger brother, is set to play as a freshman on the JV team tonight.

Loved ones set up a GoFundMe campaign for the Daniels family to help with medical and funeral costs as well as living expenses "while they work to rebuild their lives." It has already brought in more than 1,200 donations.