Texans are very enthusiastic about school-sponsored athletics and similar activities, but while high school athletics are often enjoyable for students and spectators alike, the fun became deadly serious last weekend when a 16-year-old high school student in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia died from an injury sustained in a football game on Friday night.
Two thousand two hundred spectators were watching from the stands when the student sustained an injury during the course of the football game that, according to a notice on the school’s website, directly related to the cause of his death. Later, during the game’s third quarter, the student collapsed. Transported immediately to a local hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, the student died on Sunday.
According to a family member, the student was a big-hearted person who had a fear of accidentally causing serious injury to other players on the football field. News of his death has reportedly rocked members of the close-knit community. On Monday, approximately one-third of students at the school did not attend classes. The football coach cancelled the scheduled practice in order to meet with the other members of the team. In the wake of the tragedy, the community is “trying to put one foot in front of the other,” according to the high school principal.
At this time, it is unclear whether the school will face wrongful death litigation on account of the 16-year-old student’s demise, but family members of students who were similarly injured or killed while participating in school-sponsored athletics or activities may wish to consult an attorney.