The Georgia high school football player who died Sunday night after suffering a brain injury two nights earlier told a first responder "I can't feel my body" before passing out, CNN reported.
Dylan Thomas, 17, a junior inside linebacker at Pike County High School, was injured during the third quarter of Friday night's game against Peach County. According to the Georgia High School Association, Thomas fell during a play and complained that he had no feeling in his leg, the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Thomas was helped off the field. According to Steve Fry, a first responder and the mayor of Williamson, the youth fell off the sideline bench, CNN reported. When the boy woke up, he said "I can't feel my body," and passed out again, Fry told CNN.
According to the GHSA, Thomas was wearing a 2018 model Riddell Flex helmet, the highest-rated helmet that the company manufactures, the Journal-Constitution reported.
"Dylan's dad took his own money and bought an NFL-quality helmet for Dylan, because he was somewhat concerned about head injuries," Fry told CNN.
Pike County coach Brad Webber said Monday his staff was reviewing video to try to pinpoint how Thomas was injured, the Journal-Constitution reported.
“He was talking and (was) fine and then things went bad,” Webber told the newspaper.
Webber told CNN that Thomas "was the heart and soul of our defense."
"He was an incredible young man with work ethic that you can't believe," Webber said. "Just (a) great student, great family, and the sky was gonna be the limit for him."
The GHSA said in a statement Tuesday that it found no negligence or video evidence of a specific injury suffered by Thomas, the Journal-Constitution reported.
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