Coroner: Ole Miss player had sickle cell trait

Published May. 17, 2010 10:38 p.m. ET

foxsports

A coroner says complications of sickle cell trait caused the death of Bennie F. Abram, a University of Mississippi football player who collapsed during a Feb. 19 workout.

Officials released the autopsy results Monday for Abram, a 20-year-old junior from Southaven.

Lafayette County Coroner Rocky Kennedy said the official cause of death was the sickle cell trait associated with exertion. Kennedy said a contributing factor was that Abram had an enlarged heart.

Kennedy said a person with sickle cell trait inherits one gene for sickle hemoglobin and one for normal hemoglobin. The condition can be asymptomatic. However, Kennedy said Abram knew he had sickle cell trait.