Middle school boy dies from football practice injury

 August 29, 2024

A West Virginia town is mourning the death of a middle school student who was killed playing football.

Cohen Craddock, 13, was in the 8th grade at Madison Middle School. The boy received a head injury during football practice, causing his brain to swell and bleed.

“It was my understanding he was playing defense in practice, and the boys collided,” the boy's father, Ryan Craddock told CNN. “Cohen fell to the ground and hit his head, and that’s what caused his brain to start swelling” and bleed, the father said.

Young boy's tragic death

Cohen was rushed to the hospital and died a day later, the Boone County Ambulance Authority said.

The boy had lost oxygen, resulting in brain death, according to his father.

“On the ride to the hospital, he aspirated, then he had some low oxygen levels, which led to brain death, and where his brain was dying, it just basically caused his body to be unable to regulate itself and caused him to perish," his father said.

Cohen Craddock was a kind boy who was well-liked by his classmates, his family said. The family decided to donate his organs in a "final act of generosity."

“Caden is still fighting hard in his earthly body as he prepares for this final act of generosity to bring new life to others,” his heartbroken mother, Arsella Slagel Tellier, wrote on Facebook. "We continue to pray for those whose lives will be forever changed by his gifts."

Father's plea

In the wake of this tragedy, Ryan Craddock is calling on more schools to use helmet coverings to prevent the kind of injuries that killed his son.

“I believe if my son would have been wearing something like this, this would have made a totally different outcome,” Craddock said.

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

The superintendent of Boone County schools, Matthew Riggs, issued a statement on the tragedy.

“The entire Boone County Schools’ community is beginning to mourn the loss of Cohen Craddock, an 8th grade student at Madison Middle School. As a Redhawk, Cohen was loved by his classmates, his teachers, his administrators, and the entire Madison Middle School staff," the statement said.

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