It was a high school assembly no one wanted to see: a memorial for 15-year-old Robert Gillon, a Florida teenager who died earlier this month of possible cardiac arrest the morning after he complained of chest pains before going to football practice.
He is one of at least seven teenage soccer players who have died in the United States in August.
“It’s just one of those things you thought would never happen,” said Ryan Craddock, whose 13-year-old son Cohen was taken to hospital in West Virginia after hitting his head during football practice on Aug. 23.
“Just a regular play, there was nothing different about it,” Craddock told CBS News.
Cohen was wearing a helmet, but the injury caused his brain to swell and he died the next day.
Caden Tellier, 16, died Aug. 23 after suffering a serious head injury during a game at his school in Alabama.
Leslie Noble, also 16, collapsed in a field in Baltimore and died the following August 14 possible heat stroke.
“If you look at the main causes of catastrophic problems in children, we’re talking about heat, we’re talking about hearts, we’re talking about heads,” said Dr. Joseph Chorley, director of sports medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
Chorley says parents should be proactive, talk to coaches and know who is monitoring the players. They should also ensure “that these people are trained and have the necessary equipment if there is a problem.”
Ryan Craddock is already taking action, urging schools to attach padded head protectors, known as caps, to football helmets.
“I don’t want to waste time,” Craddock said. “So that’s why I’m trying to push to get hard hats for these kids now… I don’t want to see this happen to anybody else.”
