USA soccer’s Savannah DeMelo collapses on field in Racing Louisville’s match vs. Seattle Reign

U.S. women’s national team talent and Louisville City star Savannah DeMelo collapsed on the field on Sunday night while playing in an NWSL match. The California native could be seen taking a seat on the pitch while under distress before the top half of her body collapsed backwards. Her club said she was stable and alert at 9:37 p.m. ET, adding that she was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

At the time of the incident, she was with two teammates and a member of the medical staff, with the latter quickly signaling for the ambulance to enter the pitch. Her teammates were emotional as they walked off the field and looked back at the situation that was unfolding.

 This was her second medical event of the season as back on March 22 match against Bay FC, she went down on the pitch after feeling dizzy and a shortness of breath. She was eventually taken off by stretcher. 

While it’s unclear at this time what caused this specific episode, DeMelo, 27, was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and hyperthyroidism last fall, according to ESPN.

“Playing a 90-minute game felt unbearable,” DeMelo told ESPN. “I would get to maybe the 25th minute, and I felt like my heart was just like beating so fast, like out of my chest. I felt so out of breath, so out of shape. I didn’t really know what was going on.”

The remainder of the match will be rescheduled at a later date, Racing Louisville announced.