Cohen Craddock, a 13-year-old football player in West Virginia, died Saturday after suffering a head injury in a Friday practice, his father Ryan Craddock said to multiple news outlets.
Cohen Craddock, a defensive lineman at Madison Middle School, was injured while making a tackle. An ambulance was called but Cohen had collapsed by the time it arrived, per multiple reports. Ryan said his son’s oxygen levels were low and his brain was swelling as he was transported to the hospital Friday.
Cohen, who had just started eighth grade three days earlier, died the next day.
“You wish it was a bad dream you could wake up from,” Ryan said.
“He was Mr. Personality,” Ryan said. “He liked to joke, he liked to make you smile. Even if he was feeling bad, he wanted to make you feel good. He was that type of person. Just a big heart, a big teddy bear.”
Ryan remarked that his son loved football for the camaraderie, WSAZ reported. The father is also now pushing for players to receive Guardian Caps, soft-shell covers used on helmets that can help prevent head injuries.
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“I think with the Guardian Cap it could have been a little bit of a different outcome,” Ryan told NBC News. “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.”
“I want to take the loss of my boy to try to protect the other guys,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “I don’t want anybody else to go through what we are going through currently.”
Each school in the Boone County School System paid tribute to Craddock on Monday by wearing red, the color of Madison Middle School.
Boone County superintendent Matthew Riggs said in a statement that Cohen “was loved by his classmates, his teachers, his administrators, and the entire Madison Middle School staff.”
“Cohen was also a member of the Red Hawks’ Football Team. Numerous additional supports will be in place beginning on Monday as our MMS students, student athletes, faculty, and staff grieve this tremendous loss,” Riggs’ statement read, according to multiple outlets. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cohen’s family, friends, teammates, classmates, and the entire MMS staff. As our thoughts and prayers go out to Cohen’s family, we would ask that same from the community in that his family may find healing, comfort, protection and strength.”
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(Photo: Andy Abeyta / The Desert Sun / USA Today)
