On September 27, Turner and Gwynn were riding electric scooters around 7 p.m. on Associated Road near campus, heading to a CSUF men’s soccer match when a box truck traveling in the same lane struck them.
Police said the players were riding without helmets, and early findings indicated that alcohol and drugs were not factors.
”When we got news of this incident, a part of me died,” leadership coach Ali Malaekeh told CBS.
Turner suffered catastrophic head trauma and was placed in the ICU, where she remained in a coma until her death. Gwynn, also critically injured, spent a month in the ICU before being moved to a step-down unit.
A new safety measure
Her family called her progress nothing short of extraordinary:
“We are witnessing a miracle in her healing.”
Still, they acknowledge she faces a long recovery ahead, including physical, occupational, speech, and swallow therapy. Doctors expect 1–2 years of ongoing rehabilitation.
Following the tragedy, Cal State Fullerton head coach Demian Brown implemented a new safety measure he hopes will protect every athlete moving forward: a mandatory helmet requirement for all players riding electric scooters.
Brown said the decision reflects a growing shift across college programs nationwide:
He added that the goal is simple — to ensure no team ever endures a loss like this again:
“If anything can come out of it, if we can do something to prevent something like this happening somewhere else.”Continue reading…
