Pastor Father of Student Killed During Wheaton College Hammer-Throw Event Says His Son Is 'With Jesus'
A Christian college student was killed after being accidentally struck by a hammer during a hammer-throw event at a track and field competition in suburban Chicago.
Ethan Roser, 19, a freshman from Cincinnati who was studying to be a minister, was volunteering at the Wheaton College track and field competition when he was struck by the hammer, the Chicago Tribune reported. He had just transferred to the school in January.
According to the Daily Mail, the hammer used in a competition like this is a metal ball attached to a steel wire. The athlete tightly holds the end of the wire and spins several times before releasing the hammer. The hammer used in men's competition weighs 16 pounds, while the hammer used in women's contest weighs nine pounds.
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The college says Roser was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Roser, the youngest of four siblings, was the son of Christian missionaries, and lived in Zimbabwe until he was six years old, the Chicago Tribune learned.
Reverend Mark Roser, Ethan's father, told the news outlet that although his family is grieving, "We know he's with Jesus ... And the fact that he's in paradise is a great source of comfort to us."
Mark said Ethan had wisdom beyond his age. When Ethan was just a young boy, he was already saying things that amazed them, the father said. For instance when he was just six years old, as their family was preparing to move from Zimbabwe to the United States, Mark tried to reassure his tearful son that things would be alright in America.
"I said, 'It's the people that make the place,'" Mark recalled. "And he looked at me and said, 'But the place stays in your heart forever.'"
His family knew Ethan as a star athlete who overcame two difficult knee surgeries to be able to continue playing soccer, including at Wheaton College.
They also knew him as someone who was steadfast in his faith despite times of adversity.
Writing on his Facebook page, his brother, Johnathan, said Ethan lived a "powerful life."
"We are in shock and struggling to comprehend how we will live without him," he wrote.
"Ethan would want you to know that although we face many setbacks and struggles in life, that there is great victory and triumphant glory in knowing and following Jesus," Johnathan said.
"Death never has the final word because Jesus overcame death and has prepared a place for us in heaven with the great ones," he added.
Wheaton College posted on its Facebook page that it held a gathering at its chapel to grieve and pray over "a tragic accident."
"We are deeply grieved, but, because of our faith in Christ, not without hope," said Wheaton College President Philip Ryken in a statement. "We ask people to pray for Ethan's family, his friends, and our campus community."
