A 13-year-old West Virginia boy has died after falling unconscious while practicing for his high school football team.
Cohen Craddock was beginning his sophomore year playing defensive lineman for Madison Middle School in Boone County.
The team was practicing Friday night and he was hit in the head during a tackle, his father Ryan said.
Cohen, who was wearing a helmet, stood up, began to walk a few steps and then collapsed.
The school called 911, who discovered the boy’s brain was swollen and his oxygen levels were dropping.
A 13-year-old West Virginia boy has died after falling unconscious while practicing for his high school football team. Cohen Craddock was entering his sophomore year playing defensive lineman for Madison High School in Boone County.
The team was practicing Friday night and he was hit in the head during a tackle, his father Ryan said.
Craddock never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at 2:30 pm the following day.
Now Father Ryan is mourning the death of his young son alongside an entire community.
“He was Mr. Personality,” Ryan said. 13News.
“He liked to joke around, he liked to make you smile. Even if he was feeling bad, he wanted to make you feel good. He was that kind of person. Big heart, big teddy bear.”
The entire school district celebrated Cohen’s life on Monday by encouraging everyone to wear red.
“Madison High School lost one of its football team members in a tragic accident on the field. As a family, we know how this feels and what the support from people across the state, country and world did for us,” the school wrote in a Facebook post.
The school’s football team is still scheduled to play its game against Shady Spring on Friday night.
Schools Superintendent Matt Riggs praised Craddock in a statement.
“He liked to joke around, he liked to make you smile. Even if he was feeling bad, he wanted to make you feel good. He was that kind of person. Big heart, big teddy bear,” Ryan Craddock said of his son.
The grieving father will become an advocate for what is known as Guardian Caps, a recent innovation of a waffle-shaped helmet shell that creates a soft shell layer that can significantly reduce the impact of helmet-to-helmet hits.
‘As a Redhawk, Cohen was beloved by his classmates, his teachers, his administrators and the entire staff at Maddison Middle School… Our thoughts and prayers are with Cohen’s family, his friends, his teammates, his classmates and the entire MMS staff.’
“While our thoughts and prayers are with Cohen’s family, we ask the same of the community so that his family can find healing, comfort, protection and strength,” Riggs added.
Additional supports and services will be available for students, staff and athletes on Monday at school.
For now, Ryan Craddock is encouraging everyone to hug their kids tonight.
“You can’t believe it,” Craddock told him. wsaz fitness zone“I wish it was a nightmare I could wake up from. It’s an agony inside. I can’t put it into words. It’s terrible.”
The grieving father will become an advocate for what are known as Guardian Caps, a recent innovation of a waffle-shaped helmet shell that creates a soft layer that can significantly reduce the impact of helmet-to-helmet hits.
According to the NFL, the cap can reduce the force of head contact by 10 percent when worn by one player, and by 20 percent if every player involved in a collision has one covering his or her helmet.
“I want to accept the loss of my son to try to protect others,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through what we’re going through right now.”
