Ashley Roberson has welcomed the addition of air-conditioned helmets to LSU football's equipment room after seeing her 16-year-old son pass away from exertional heatstroke. 

The program showed off air-conditioned helmets ahead of the upcoming college football season, as many wowed at the cool factor and evolution of technology in the sport. 

For Roberson it means much more. Her son, Remy Hidalgo passed away -- three days after passing out at high school football practice at Denham Springs High School in Baton Rouge, LA, just 16 miles northeast of LSU. 

Hidalgo's passing, like all heatstroke deaths, are preventable. LSU's new helmets which will be used both in practice and games throughout the college football season. 

'Heat prevention is my passion now since my son collapsed and passed away,' Roberson told Mail Sport. 

Ashley Roberson spoke to Mail Sport regarding the importance of LSU's new air-conditioned helmets. Her son, Remy Hidalgo, passed away at 16 after suffering exertional heatstroke

Hidalgo pictured with his mother, tragically passed away after collapsing at football practice 

Roberson set up the Remy Hidalgo Memorial Foundation three months on from her son's tragic passing on September 18, 2020 - three days after passing out at practice in Denham Springs

LSU football unveiled brand new air-conditioned helmets for its football team this week

'I just feel like, you know, after reading some of these comments, when, you know, it was announced that LSU had and people just think that it's something that's not needed. 

'It's very much needed, and if they had to go through what I went through they would understand my passion for it. This is a safety thing.'

Roberson set up the Remy Hidalgo Memorial Foundation three months on from her son's tragic passing on September 18, 2020 -- three days after passing out at practice, his temperature reaching 106.8 degrees.

The helmets to be used by the Tigers have been created by Louisiana-based company called Tigeraire, who shared a clip to its social media pages of some LSU stars trying on their new pieces of equipment. 

Tigeaire claims to 'chip away' at dehydration, brain fog, fatigue and stress through its cooling air accelerator positioned inside the helmets. Retailing at $185, the Cyclone V2 can run for over 300 minutes per charge on Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries.

The foundation has worked with Tigeraire to equip students of Hidalgo's high school, Denham Springs, with the technology inside its helmets to combat the heat and humidity in the oftentimes stifling south. 

For each purchase, the New Orleans company donates $2 to the Remy Hidalgo foundation. The 16-year-old Denham Springs native is one of several high school athletes who have passed due to heatstroke. 

University of Maryland football player, Jordan McNair, died at 19 after initially collapsing at practice on May 29, 2018. He passed away two weeks later on June 13.

The Remy Hidalgo foundation has donated 35 tubs within the state of Louisiana & one outside 

University of Maryland player Jordan McNair passed away two weeks after collapsing at practice, dying of heatstroke on June 13, 2018 -- two weeks on from the initial incident 

Fifteen wet bulb globe thermometers - which measures heat stress - have also been donated

Similarly, 16-year-old Zachary Martin-Polsenberg suffered the same fate, collapsing on June 29, 2017. Just 11 days later he died following an offseason workout for Riverdale High School in Fort Myers, FL.

'I actually got the idea [to start the foundation] and base a lot of my what I do off of another foundation, the Zach Martin Foundation, his mom Laurie Giordano started hers three years ago when she lost him. 

'Jordan McNair's father has a huge foundation and I spoke to him also. I saw their passion for what they do, and I decided that I needed to do something to help hopefully. I know this will be a mission that will never be completely finished but I'm just trying to get awareness out there.'

Roberson is also getting cold water immersion tubs and wet bulb globe thermometers to football teams in the Baton Rouge area -- both of which can dramatically assist in preventing exertional heat stroke.

It differs from mainstream heat stroke in the sense that it is only onset by physical activity. 

According to UConn's Korey Stringer Institute, the most effective measure for treating the potentially-fatal increase in body temperature is to cool the athlete as quickly as feasible before immersing them in ice water. If such equipment is unavailable, the shade is the next best recourse. 

'You have 30 minutes to cool the body down below 104 degrees,' Roberson said. 'It's the only emergency that you don't send straight to the hospital. You have to get them cool and keep them in the cold tub. You don't transport them until they are body is cool.

'[If] their body has reached those temperatures, and you don't have them cooled down in time, then that's when they go into start immediately going into organ failure. Usually the kidneys and livers that start failing on first.'

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKugpL%2B1e8Koo6Wdl5p6p7vOrZmapJxkrrPAyJyjnmVhZ352f49ubmiFn6J6coKMspyaql2kuaV5wqijpZmgqLKlecWopq2akaG5brzRmpqtoZOaerTBz6mmq6yjYpmUodJmpZ6vXZa2s3nCqKWdoaSevK%2Bxw2afnqSdmsG0esetpKU%3D