US college student killed by a hammer throw while volunteering at athletics meet

Ethan Roser, who was killed in a track and field accident. Photo/Facebook/Wheaton College

A college student has tragically died in a freak accident during an athletics competition when he was struck by a hammer throw.

Ethan Roser, 19, was killed while volunteering at a track and field competition at Wheaton College, in Wheaton Illinois, about 30km outside of Chicago on the weekend, according to news.com.au.

Roser was accidentally struck with the hammer during a hammer throw event on Saturday afternoon, Illinois time.

The hammer throw is an Olympic event and one of four throwing events in athletics competition.

The hammer is a metal ball attached by a steel wire to a grip.

The size of the ball weighs 7kg in men's competitions and 4kg in women's competition.
Roser was rushed by ambulance to the nearby Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where he was pronounced dead.

"Wheaton College is grieved by the tragic death of freshman Ethan Roser," a statement from the college said.

"Roser, a 19-year-old freshman transfer student from Cincinnati, Ohio, was volunteering at a Wheaton College track and field competition, where he was accidentally struck by a hammer during the hammer throw event."

Ethan Roser was one of our heroes. We LOVED how much Ethan cared for his Mason friends to learn more about the life of Jesus Christ. pic.twitter.com/pVDlLBNxa6

— Mason Young Life (@MasonCometsYL) April 23, 2017

"We are deeply grieved, but, because of our faith in Christ, not without hope," said Wheaton College President Philip Ryken.

"We ask people to pray for Ethan's family, his friends, and our campus community."

According to the Chicago Tribune, Roser was the son of Christian missionaries who spent his early years in Africa and was studying to be a minister.

"We are in shock and struggling to comprehend how we will live without him," his brother Ethan wrote on Facebook.