Former DIII football player dies after he falls from catwalk
Kyle Kirchhoff, an assistant football coach at College of DuPage and a former player at Division III Loras College, fell from a catwalk at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on Friday and died. He was 24.
He was attending a Chevelle concert at the venue. According to the Chicago Tribune, he landed on two protruding pieces of metal.
The paper said he and two friends were on the second-floor balcony and went through a door. From the Tribune:
Two of the three found their way to a catwalk where they were able to watch the show, and after a short while, they noticed Kirchhoff wasn't with them. When they searched for him, they found his body. He had apparently fallen about 6 to 8 feet onto two metal rods, the source said.
Kirchhoff suffered two wounds to his chest and was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 10:54 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office and police.
The concert was stopped after the body was found. Aragon Ballroom could not be reached for comment on Kirchhoff’s death.
"Duhawk football has lost a great friend and teammate," Loras College coach Steve Helminiak said in a statement. "Kyle was loved by his teammates and coaches alike, his impact on and off the field will be missed but not forgotten."
"Kyle's love of life and football was infectious to all who were fortunate to have known him. Our thoughts and prayers are with Kyle's family as they mourn during this very difficult time."
College of DuPage is a community college in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Kirchhoff coached the defensive line there, a position he played at Loras.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
