Tyler Christman, a 14-year-old freshman at New York’s Carthage High School, has broken the hearts of thousands of people after he suddenly passed away following a head injury during a football game over the weekend.
On Saturday, Christman, a 14-year-old freshman at Carthage High School, collapsed on the sidelines during a junior varsity football game against West Genesee High School, Syracuse.com and NBC New York reported. He would be rushed to the hospital to undergo surgery, which revealed he suffered swelling and bleeding in his frontal cortex, according to Syracuse.com
Following surgery, Christmas was placed on life support where he would later die on Tuesday.
Christman’s father, Jason, has since spoken out, writing on Facebook: “We all prayed for a miracle to happen for you to be saved. Sadly, the damage was just too much.”
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“You will always be our hero and soon you will be a hero to the people that receive your life saving organ donations,” he continued, “and a hero to all the family members who have spent many sleepless nights praying for their miracle.”
West Genesee junior varsity coach Brian McAvan told Syracuse.com that “it was just a regular JV football game.” He could not say that a single play or hit appeared to contribute to the athlete’s death.
Athletic Director Jason Brown and football coach Jason Coffman remembered Christman as “an amazing young athlete” who “participated on many of our athletic teams at Carthage Central.”
“His ability to be an outstanding teammate and infectious personality will be greatly missed by all that knew him. Words cannot describe how heartbroken we all are for the entire Christman family,” they stated. “Tyler, and all of the Christman’s have been a very big part of the Carthage Football family for years. Our sincerest condolences go out to their entire family.”
