A U.S. Navy recruit has died after she collapsed during physical training at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. She was 20 years old.
Officials told Navy Times this week that Seaman Kierra Evans was partaking in a physical fitness assessment (PFA) on Feb. 22 when she collapsed. This was just days before her anticipated graduation from boot camp on March 1.
Kierra Evans was set to graduate from boot camp a week after she collapsed during a fitness test at Great Lakes. RIP Seaman Recruit Evans https://t.co/RmSQliq5nW
— Gina Harkins (@GinaAHarkins) March 4, 2019
She was taken to the hospital and died several hours later, Lt. Joseph Pfaff told Navy Times.
There is an investigation into her cause of death, which is unknown at this time.
“She was on track to graduate March 1st, as long as she passed all remaining training requirements. The Navy, and Recruit Training Command, take the welfare of our sailors very seriously and are investigating the cause of this tragic loss,” Pfaff said.
Evans graduated from Neville High School in 2017, where she had been an active member of the Navy’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) for all four years of high school.
She began her military duty on Jan. 2 at Naval Station Great Lakes near Chicago, Illinois.
“She was proud to enter in as a Seaman and was set to graduate from Recruit Training on March 1, 2019,” her obituary reads.
