{"id":275913,"date":"2025-11-11T07:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/275913\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T07:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:51:09","slug":"cal-state-fullerton-soccer-player-dies-after-nearly-six-weeks-in-icu-following-e-scooter-crash-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/275913\/","title":{"rendered":"Cal State Fullerton soccer player dies after nearly six weeks in ICU following e-scooter crash \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Cal State Fullerton women\u2019s soccer player died on Nov. 7 following nearly six weeks in the ICU after a box truck hit her and a teammate<\/a> while they were riding e-scooters off campus, the university announced.<\/p>\n

Lauren Turner, a sophomore from Tustin and a defensive midfielder for the Titans, died weeks after the Sept. 27 crash that hospitalized her and her teammate Ashlyn Gwynn.<\/p>\n

\u201cLauren was the funniest, most charismatic and loving teammate you could ever ask for,\u201d the women\u2019s soccer team said in a statement. \u201cShe was the first to celebrate other people\u2019s wins. She is the true definition of an amazing person. She always carried herself with compassion, kindness and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact she made on the Titans women\u2019s soccer program is immeasurable,\u201d the team continued. \u201cShe will be dearly missed by everyone but forever remembered by her Titan family. \u00a0We love you Lauren, our No. 5 Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner and Gwynn, also a sophomore, were riding e-scooters to a men\u2019s soccer game around 7 p.m. when a box truck hit them near Associated Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard, police said. Officers found them in the street with \u201csignificant, life-threatening\u201d injuries before they were hospitalized.<\/p>\n

The teammates were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash, head coach Demian Brown said last month. Since the crash, Brown said he implemented a rule requiring his players to wear helmets whenever they rode e-scooters and e-bikes and said he hoped to push for helmet rules for all Cal State Fullerton athletics and other NCAA programs.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe created after the crash<\/a> raised more than $104,000 to support Turner\u2019s family. Family said Turner was an Orthodox Christian, a determined soccer player who encouraged her teammates and a loyal friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer teammates and coaches have shared countless stories of her positivity, humor, competitiveness and leadership \u2013 reminders of the light she carried both on and off the field,\u201d Turner\u2019s family wrote on GoFundMe. \u201cAs her family, we always knew the goodness and light that shone within her, but to hear others speak of it affirms what a true blessing she was to everyone who knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CSUF women\u2019s soccer team and the Athletics Department are hosting a candlelight vigil in honor of Turner on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. on the field at Titan Stadium.<\/p>\n

Since the crash, Brown said he had visited his players\u2019 families in the hospital repeatedly to provide support and check in on them. He also helped coordinate travel for Gwynn\u2019s family, who are from Utah.<\/p>\n

On the field, he said Turner was talented and technical, and Gwynn is one of the Titans\u2019 fastest players.<\/p>\n

Turner played 10 games this season and started in various positions for eight of them, Cal State Fullerton\u2019s Athletics Department said in a statement. She played a major role in the team\u2019s unbeaten start to the 2025 season and played a full 90 minutes in the Titans\u2019 win against the University of Pittsburgh, helping the team earn its second-ever win against an ACC team, athletics officials said.<\/p>\n

Her freshman year, she played in all 20 games, starting four times, and scored her first collegiate goal at home against the University of California, Riverside last year.<\/p>\n

In a GoFundMe created to support Gwynn\u2019s family<\/a> after the crash, loved ones shared on Oct. 30 that she was moved out of the ICU and would begin daily occupational, physical and speech and swallowing therapy. Gwynn\u2019s recovery will be long but family said that she can nod, follow moving objects with her eyes and move her arms and legs.<\/p>\n

Gwynn was also cleared for air travel as family said they\u2019re hoping she\u2019s accepted into a rehabilitation program in Houston before she is eventually released for one to two years of outpatient rehabilitation at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thankful for everyone\u2019s support, thoughts, prayers and wishes,\u201d Gwynn\u2019s family wrote. \u201cJust one month ago her doctors couldn\u2019t tell us whether she would survive. We are witnessing a miracle in her healing right now and are blessed to still have her with us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Cal State Fullerton women\u2019s soccer player died on Nov. 7 following nearly six weeks in the ICU…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,3335,48,46151,2169,97928,44,62459,561,82,39],"class_list":["post-275913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-canada","tag-crash","tag-crime","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}