A Southern Connecticut State University student gymnast from Milford died Nov. 10 during a training accident, according to the university and news reports.
Melanie Coleman, 20, was a junior at the university who planned to major in nursing, according to her SCSU athletics profile.
Coleman attended Jonathan Law High School in Milford, where she was a team captain, the program’s most valuable player and all-state selection, according to a statement from SCSU.
Coleman suffered a spinal injury on Nov. 8 while training at New Era Gymnastics in Hamden, where she also served as a youth instructor. She was taken to Yale New Haven hospital, where she died two days later.
“We are heartbroken and stunned by Melanie’s passing,” SCSU head coach Mary Fredericks said. “She was an incredibly hard worker and a sweet-spirited young woman. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to her family at this time. The SCSU Gymnastics team will miss her greatly though she will always be with us.”
Coleman’s family has set up a GoFundMe page, which had received over $44,000 as of Monday night from hundreds of supporters, and a page at MealTrain.com to coordinate meal donations to the family.