EASTERN HANCOCK — A sophomore at Eastern Hancock High School died early Tuesday after going to the hospital hours earlier complaining of pain, his principal said.
Justin Locker apparently died of complications from a heart condition, Principal Dave Pfaff said in an email to the EH community on Tuesday morning.
Justin’s mother, Mandy, took her son to Hancock Regional Hospital on Monday evening after he complained of back and chest pain, Pfaff said. He was transferred to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital later that night and died at 4 a.m. Tuesday, Pfaff said.
Justin is survived by his father, Rusty; his mother, Mandy; his stepmother, Amanda; and his two older brothers, Russel and Andy.
Justin was a passionate young man who always seemed full of life, said Chad Coughenour, the Eastern Hancock baseball coach. Justin played baseball at EH and was a fun-loving student and an excellent teammate, he said. Justin was known for making the crowd laugh by starting team chants from the dugout whenever his team trailed in games, Coughenour said.
“He always wanted the best for his friends,” Coughenour said. “Anything he could do to get the team moving.”
Justin played baseball alongside Russel and Andy, and he was often one of the more free-spirited players on the Royals’ baseball field, said Eastern Hancock athletic director Aaron Spaulding. But his fun-loving attitude was always a positive one, he said.
Justin could always be counted on to lighten a dark mood with a joke whenever he came into a room, usually sporting a New York Yankees t-shirt or ball cap, Spaulding said.
The death shocked everyone at school. Pfaff summoned extra counselors and clergymen from schools and churches in the area to meet throughout the day with grieving students.
“This is the saddest thing that can happen in a school, is for it to lose one of its own,” Pfaff said. “But you also see people pulling together at times like these. In the midst of the worst times, you see students helping one another in a wonderful system of support.”
Funeral arrangements were pending at press time.
