FLORIDA PREP PLAYER'S INJURY MISDIAGNOSED.

Byline: Elizabeth Clarke Cox News Service

A Suncoast High School football player stayed on the sideline for more than three quarters last week with life-threatening internal injuries that no one realized he had.

Daniel Finley, 18, of West Palm Beach, was taken to the hospital by his mother after the game. An emergency medical technician at the game had diagnosed Finley with a strained muscle and suggested only an ice treatment.

At St. Mary's Medical Center, a surgeon removed Finley's ``destroyed'' spleen and one of his cut kidneys that night, close family friend Carol Katzenberg said. Finley, who also had severe internal bleeding, remained in the hospital's intensive care unit Tuesday.

No one - his coaches, parents, teammates or friends - seemed to know Friday how badly Finley had been injured. Katzenberg said the EMT told his parents, Lois and Harry Finley, to put their son to bed with a hot compress.

``The surgeon told them had they done that, they would have found their son dead in the morning,'' Katzenberg said. ``The only person who made the right call that night was his mom.''

Finley, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior tight end, had caught a pass in the first quarter and had several tacklers fall on him.

``It seemed like an ordinary pile-up,'' Suncoast coach Al Sutton said. ``It didn't look like one of those hard tackles when somebody would get hurt. Everybody was surprised because it just didn't seem that bad.''

Sutton said he knew Finley had been injured but didn't look at him too carefully. Instead, he left Finley's care to the EMT.

Suncoast Athletic Director Jesus Armas would not release the name of the EMT who was hired to work the game. Sources have identified him as Iry Herbert, who works for Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, but Herbert was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.

Suncoast does not employ an athletic trainer, Principal Kay Carnes said.

After the EMT examined Finley, the player spent the rest of the game laying on the field or sitting on the bench.

Neither the Palm Beach County School Board nor the Florida High School Activities Association requires ambulances or medical personnel at football games, although some schools have them. FHSAA spokesman Jack Watford said the board of directors recommends that host schools have physicians or ambulances present or readily available for each game.