Written by: Endurance Nkeh and Kaitlyn Bendon
Genesis Hernandez was an 11th-grade student-athlete at Hillside Valley Charter High School. She was one of three children to single mother Katarina Hernandez. Hernandez grew up with a love for tennis, which was passed on to her by her mother Katarina, who almost made it to the Olympics when an injury cut her career short. Hernandez had a passion for tennis, which she showed ever since joining the varsity team her freshman year of high school.
During the summer before her junior year, Hernandez attended a two-month tennis program called Racketeers Tennis Program. Upon her return, many loved ones noticed a drastic change in Hernandez’s performance on the court and her mood. These included voice changes, anger, anxiety, and a drastic improvement in performance. The victim’s mother “noticed that Genesis had become incredibly anxious.” Due to this increase in anxiety, the deceased’s mother contacted her longtime pediatrician to request a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication.
Hernandez’s anxiety was a side effect of a performance-enhancing drug called Boldenone. The autopsy results revealed that the combination of Boldenone and a Vitamin C medication had a reaction that led to a stroke, which ultimately resulted in the death of Genesis Hernandez. Dr. Julianne Perry conducted an autopsy on Hernandez and stated that the PED found in the system of the deceased is “extremely hard to find.” This leads to further questions regarding how a high school student came across those drugs. Was it during summer camp? Whom else was she taking these drugs with, and are their lives at risk as well?
Coach Blazer had previously received claims regarding possible PED use by the victim’s mother and teammate Fiona Patel, to which no actions were taken due to lack of physical evidence. Blazer claimed that in order to start an investigation, there must be sufficient evidence such as pictures or specific names of students using this drug. “All I needed were the names of people and I could have launched an investigation,” Coach Derek says. The school’s failure to look into the claims made by both a concerned parent and a concerned friend resulted in Hernandez’s death. As the prosecution interrogated Coach Blazer, he stated that he did not report Hernandez’s anger and aggression to her mother. He also did not report her passing out during training. These actions taken by the coach lead to further questions about his possible involvement in the athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Chief Education Officer Mia Thompson stated the “school has one of the lowest rates of PED use in the district.” The district’s focus on this statistic seems to be more important than the lives of their students. Thompson went on to say that the school did not properly address the effects of PED use because “such allegations can cause disruption in our schools.” The school focuses and takes pride in its guidelines, which are meant to educate parents and students on the negative effects of using PEDs. These guidelines were not effective, as Thompson stated “guidelines could have improved, but it was cost effective.” Why are the costs of a program more important than the lives of the students? As the case continues, we are left with more questions than answers. What role did the school play in the death of 11th-grade student Genesis Hernandez?