El Paso lost one of its high school football icons Wednesday night when Irvin graduate and former all-state running back Patrick Norris died suddenly at his mother's home.
Norris, who had been living in Tucson, was visiting El Paso on his way to meet his fiancee in Ohio when he complained of shortness of breath then collapsed, his mother, Johnnie Mitchell, said.
He had just turned 32 years old Monday.
"Apparently, he had pneumonia in Arizona, and the doctors gave him antibiotics and IVs, but he said they made it (conditions) worse," Mitchell said. "When he came to town, he kind of laid around and he just wasn't himself. I thought he was just getting over the flu. (Wednesday) night, he woke us up and said that he couldn't catch his breath. He was gasping for air then collapsed.
"We called 911, and they took him to (William Beaumont Hospital), and the doctors did all they could but said his heart had stopped."
Memorial services and funeral arrangements are pending. Mitchell has established the "Patrick Norris Memorial Fund" with Wells Fargo in hopes of burying him in Mississippi.
Friends and relatives were numbed by the news of Norris' death.
"I felt like I just lost a part of me," said Pat Flores, who split time with Norris in the backfield at Irvin. "It's a shock. You wouldn't É you couldn't believe this would happen to a person of his age; this guy was physically fit."
Norris, who worked with disabled patients at an Arizona hospital, had no history of heart problems either, Mitchell said.
"He had always been healthy," she said. "He took vitamins and worked out. I'm surprised that this would happen. He was fairly healthy as far as I know."
Most people remember Norris as a dynamic athlete who excelled in both football and the 110-meter hurdles.
He made the largest strides on the gridiron as a relentless defensive end and a tailback with the perfect combination of power and speed.
Norris led all of Class 5A in rushing as a senior in 1992, breaking the 2,000-yard rushing barrier while averaging 8.6 yards per carry.
That year Irvin went 10-0 during the regular season and was ranked No. 7 in Texas.