Middle School Football Player Dies From Head Injury During Practice

The Madison Middle School in West Virginia in July 2021. Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

West Virginian 13-year-old Cohen Craddock died in hospital on Aug. 24 after sustaining a head injury he received during football practice.

On Friday, Cohen was playing defense when he collided with teammates during practice, fell to the ground, and hit his head, causing his brain to swell, his father, Ryan Craddock, told CNN. During the ride to hospital, Cohen had trouble breathing, leading to low oxygen levels that resulted in brain death, added Craddock.

“His brain was dying, it just basically caused his body to be unable to regulate itself and caused him to perish,” the father said.

While Cohen’s family is waiting for the autopsy report, his father aims to encourage more youth football players to wear soft-shell covers over their helmets to reduce potential impact.

“You’re not modifying the helmets. It’s just something that attaches directly on. So why not just have that extra layer of protection?” Craddock said.

Cohen played in eighth-grade football for the Madison Middle School Jaguars. Craddock stated that the outcome could have been different had Cohen worn the extra layer of protective gear.

“I believe if my son would have been wearing something like this, this would have made a totally different outcome,” he said. “What image would you rather have—somebody seeing you laying in a casket, or you wearing something to protect your body?”

A lab study measuring the benefit of applying soft-shell caps to football helmets showed a significantly lower force of impact when worn. However, the effectiveness varies depending on the helmet model and different add-ons. The study states that a poor-quality helmet using an add-on will not perform as well as a high-performing helmet without an add-on.

Another study was conducted on real college football players testing the difference between players who wore soft-shell padding and those who didn’t on the field. The results showed that the additional padding did not reduce the head impact of players when hit with an accelerated force.

Rising Number of Football Players Dying

Data collected by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research listed 16 deaths among football players in the country last year. The deaths occurred in all levels of play with nine of them from middle and high school programs, five from college, and two from youth league.

The report details three deaths directly related to football participation, 10 incidents were indirectly related, two were not football or exertion-related, and the cause of one death was unknown at the time of the report’s release.

Cohen’s death follows a similar incident of Alabama high school footballer Caden Tellier, dying the same weekend from a head injury, according to a statement from the Alabama Independent School Association.

From NTD News