A West Virginia community is in mourning after an eighth-grader died from an injury sustained in a freak accident at football practice late last week.
According to the New York Post, Cohen Craddock was playing defense during the Friday football practice. He went down after a hard collision with some teammates and was knocked out cold.
Tragically, the 13-year-old, a student at Madison Middle School in Madison, West Virginia, suffered a brain bleed and swelling, resulting in a lack of oxygen.
The boy’s heartbroken father, Ryan Craddock, revealed that his son had passed away in hospital on Saturday, one day after the incident.
“You’re in disbelief,” Ryan said.
“You wish it was a bad dream you could wake up from. It’s agony inside. I can’t put words to it. It’s terrible.”
Ryan added that Cohen had started eighth grade just three days prior to his untimely passing, describing the 13-year-old as a teenager with a “heart of gold” who loved making friends at football practice and church.
“As a father, I couldn’t have been more proud,” Ryan said.
As per reports, Cohen’s family are now aiming to raise awareness regarding safety protocols for young athletes. One such protocol is the Guardian Cap, a soft-shell helmet devised to reduce the impact of direct hits.
“I think with the Guardian Cap it could have been a little bit of a different outcome,” Ryan Craddock said.
“And I would like to at least protect any and all the other kids that I can, starting at the county level, if I can move it on to the state or national level, to push for these kids to start wearing Guardian Caps at least in practice or however far they want to take it.”
Ryan added: “I’m just thinking if it saves one other family from the heartache that my family’s experiencing at the moment, it’ll all be worth it. I know Cohen would want this too. And he wouldn’t want me to wait or delay this.”
Rest in peace, Cohen Craddock. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
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