THE TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL, SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1937 LACROSSE STAR FATALLY STICKEN ----------------------------- DEATH CLAIMS ISAACS OF MARLBORO SENIORS; INTERMISSION TRAGEDY ------------------------------------------------------------- (By Hall Walker) Extreme heat and Exertion Cause of Death, States Dr. W.W. Bartlett - Deceased Brother Faints - GAME IS ABANDONED Death stalked in the dressing-room of Marlboro Lacrosse Club last night at Maple Leaf Gardens, and its icy fingers reached into a happy group of young athletes and took as its victim 29-year-old Lance Isaacs, clever Indian forward player of the Marlboro team. Victic of an acute heart attack, Isaacs keeled over backward into the arms of Trainer Archie Campbell, and was pronounced dead a few minutes later by Dr. W. W. Bartlett of Brampton, physician of the team which was engaging the locals in a scheduled O.A.L.A. game. The tragedy occured at the end of the second period and Marlboros were leading 7 to 5. BROTHER COLLAPSES FROM SHOCK It was only seconds from the time the bell rang to end the period until Isaac's death. He had walked into the dressing room with his team-mates, among them his 23-year-old brother Bill, and sat on the edge of the rubbing table, his head lowered and looking very tired. In the midst of the usual dressing-room banter of the athletes, he was seen to stiffen suddenly, gasp for breath, and with a scarcely audible "Hey-hey" rolled backward on the table. Trainer Campbell caught him in his arms. The rest of his mates were unaware that death was in their midst. They sat transfixed, staring, unable to believe their mate had passed on. Dr.Bartlett, who had accompanied the Brampton team to the game, came in response to a hurry-up call, but Lance Isaacs was beyond aid. Bill Isaacs, younger brother of the unfortunate athlete, was seated on a bench a few feet from where his brother lay breathing his last. He scrambled across the room to give aid and after Dr.Bartlett prounounced his brother dead he crumpled in a heap. The suddeness of the tragedy left the assembled Marlboro players, Coach Eddie Powers, Manager Johnston and Trainer Campbell speechless, shocked. Bill Isaacs was given treatment and soon rallied. While his mates took him aside to comfort him in his sorrow, the 23-year-old youth walked away and sat down in a far corner of the room. With the stoic characteristics of his race, he bore up remarkably well. Smiley Young and Max Martin, also Indians, and teammates for years of the deceased, broke into tears when the shock wore off and the tragic aspects dawned on them. The body was taken from the dressing-room to the Gardens Emergency Hospital and, after examination by Chief Coroner Dr. Smirle Lawson, ordered an autopsy performed on the remains. The Coroner expressed a belief that death was due to a heart condition. ORDER GAME CANCELLED Immediately when news of Isaac's death reached him, Gene Dopp, Secretary of the Ontario Amateur Lacrosse Association, authorized Referees Maxie Peart and Marty Cahill, both of St.Catharines, to postpone further play. The score of 7 to 5, which favored the Marlboros, will likely go down in the records as a victory for the locals, although but half completed. Lance Isaacs had scored Marlboros' seventh goal less than a minute before the end of the second quarter, his second marker of the tilt. He had previously tallied early in the same quarter. The Brampton Club, in a gesture of sterling sportsmanship, asked that the game be awarded Marlboros, so that Lance Isaacs's last goal in life could be a winning one. Conny Smythe was deeply moved by this request and brought the word of it to newspapermen. It's likely the O.A.L.A. will recognize the score as an official victory for the local team. Isaacs's young wife was nearly prostrate with grief when she learned of her husband's passing on arrival at the Gardens. Mrs. Issacs was hurried to the Charlton Street emporium and Ted Johnston, manager of the Marlboros, met her at the door and relayed the sad news. She was consoled by her brother-in-law, Bill Isaacs, and a very sad scene was enacted in the pathway leading to the small room where Lance Isaacs lay cold in death. Isaacs had not been hit by a stick or injured by bodily contact, as far as is known. He appeared tired and worn from the combined effects of heat, overexertion and overdrinking of cold water. Dr.Bartlett, the Brampton physician who attended Isaacs in the dressing room, said that apparantly these things probably brought about the fatal heart condition. The incident is without parallel in Canadian lacrosse, according to Mike Kelley, President of the Canadian Amateur Lacrosse Association. AN OUTSTANDING PLAYER Isaacs was rated as one of the outstanding players in the Ontario Amateur Lacrosse Association and scoring statistics, released yesterday, showed that he had netted 20 goals for the Marlboros and was well up in the goal-scoring race. He was born on the Six Nations Reserve, near Brantford, Ontario. He attracted attention as a lacrosse player when with Haldimand Rifles, Canadian intermediate champions, and later played with Burlington seniors. Last winter he played in Rochester. Isaacs is survived by his widow.