La. recruit collapses, dies at GL

A 20-year-old Navy recruit from Monroe, La., collapsed and later died one week before she was to graduate from boot camp at Great Lakes, Ill. Seaman Recruit Kierra Evans, a 2017 graduate from Neville High School in north Louisiana, was taking part in the Navy's Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA) at the Recruit Training Command on Feb. 22 when she collapsed. Evans, who was on course to graduate March 1, died several hours later at the Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. Her death has only now been disclosed by officials, reports Military.com. The Navy and RTC are investigating. The cause of the 20-year-old’s death is unclear. A spokesperson from the Lake County Coroner’s Office told Navy Times that autopsy results won’t be available for as long as three months. According to her obituary, Evans had graduated from Neville High in May 18, 2017, and was an a member of the school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps for four years before joining the Navy on Jan. 2, 2019. Evans is the second person to die at Great Lakes since October 2018, according to Military.com. (Source: Newsweek 03/05/19)