iStock/Thinkstock(CHICAGO) — A 17-year-old football player for Bogen High School in Chicago recently died after suffering an injury during a game.
Andre Smith, a senior at the school, is the seventh reported high school football player to die from a game-related injury this year.
Smith was hit during the last play of the game against Chicago Vocational High School Thursday night, and he collapsed after walking off the field, ABC News station WLS-TV reported.
Smith was was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where it was discovered he had a swelling in the brain, relatives told WLS-TV. Smith died Friday morning.
A spokeswoman for the Cook County Office of the Medical Examiner told ABC News on Saturday that an autopsy found that Smith’s death was an accident caused by “blunt force head injuries” sustained during the game.
The sudden loss of the Bogen High School student has left friends and family stunned.
“I don’t know what to do,” Andre Smith’s brother Erick Smith told WLS-TV. “It just killed everything inside of me.”
Relatives and friends told WLS-TV that Andre Smith, affectionately known as “Dre,” loved playing football and wanted to continue playing in college.
One student described Smith as a “cool” person who “had fun.” The student added that he was “really hurt” about Smith’s loss and that “it’s just unfortunate for [Smith] to pass doing something he really loved doing.”
Chicago Public Schools released the following statement: “For all of us at Chicago Public Schools, our hearts are heavy and saddened this morning to learn that one of our student athletes at Bogan High School has passed away.”
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