Louisiana High School Football Player Dies After Suffering Injury During Game
Tyrell Cameron, 16, was injured in the 4th quarter.
— -- A high school football player in Louisiana died after suffering an injury during a game.
Tyrell Cameron, a 16-year-old student at Franklin Parish High School in Winnsboro, suffered an undisclosed injury during the game's fourth quarter Friday, Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Aaron Monnin, a friend and former teammate of Cameron, said it appeared Cameron tripped and fell into a blocker on a punt return.
"He kind of stumbled and kind of hit [another player] in the chest area," Monnin, 18, told ABC News. "The bottom part of his face mask got caught in the middle of [the other player's] pads and pushed his head backwards."
Cameron didn't move after the initial hit and was then taken away on a stretcher, Monnin said.
Head coach Barry Sebren called it a "routine play."
"It's just such a tragedy. So unfortunate," Sebren said through tears. "But it's going to bring us together. It's going to make us stronger and we're going to miss him."
The Franklin Parish Coroner's Office said the cause of death wouldn't be released until an autopsy was completed. Cobb said it was unclear whether Cameron had any preexisting medical conditions.
Monnin said he and Cameron had been friends "since [Cameron] was old enough to play."
Cameron "never really complained about anything," Monnin said, adding that he was the "kind of guy that you wish you could meet."
Eddie Bonine, Executive Director of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA), said in a statement Saturday: “As a former coach and administrator I have had the unfortunate experience that both Coach Sebren and Principal Gunter are currently enduring. However, as a father of three children, my heart breaks for Tyrell’s family. I cannot imagine their pain,”
The LHSAA added: "The LHSAA is holds the safety of its student-athletes at the highest priority. The LHSAA’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee is comprised of doctors and certified athletic trainers from across the state and meets twice a year to discuss tactics in minimizing the inherent risks that all sports entail."