A teenage boy died on the football field, but no one is exactly sure how it happened.
It’s extremely tragic. On a day that should have been like any other game day, Dylan Thomas showed up to play. Just 16-years old, this star linebacker hoped to make a play that would help win the game for his team, on a rural Georgia county foot ball field.
But what should have been a night of celebration turned into a time of final moments.
Thomas was playing in the third quarter of Pike County High School’s football game when he became injured. Players thought he had suffered a leg injury, but now it’s not certain. Reports indicate that after being injured, Dylan sat down on the bench to take a breather, but he then fell off. He complained that he “couldn’t feel his body”, and then he passed out.
Thomas later died at the hospital, from an apparent head injury.
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According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, 13 young people died in the country last year playing football, some from on-field trauma and others from related problems during the game like heat stroke and cardiac arrest.
More and more research is pointing to the fact that head injuries sustained in sports such as football, boxing and hockey not only contribute to unexpected deaths, but more. They can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease that can result from sustaining repeated head injuries.
While sports are fun, some forms of play come at a higher cost than others.
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