Alabama teen dies after head injury during high school football game

By Melissa Alonso and Amy Simonson, CNN

(CNN) — An Alabama community is in mourning following the death of a high school quarterback who suffered a brain injury during the school’s season opener Friday night, according to statements from school officials and the teen’s family.

Caden Tellier was taken to a hospital in critical condition after a head injury in John T. Morgan Academy’s game against visiting Southern Academy in Selma, officials said Friday. His death was announced the next day.

Caden was 16, CNN affiliate WSFA reported. The school’s headmaster, Bryan Oliver, confirmed Tellier was an organ donor, AL.com reported.

“Our boy, Caden Tellier has met Jesus face to face,” Caden’s parents said Saturday in a statement. “Everyone who knows Caden has known kindness, generosity and love, and true to his nature, he is giving of himself one more time.”

“Lives have been touched by the way he lived and now lives will be saved through his passing,” his parents’ statement said.

“While we may not know the full story for some time, initial reports are that Caden likely suffered a ruptured blood vessel in his brain following a routine play in which he was tackled and made contact with the ground,” Alabama Independent School Association Executive Director Michael McLendon told CNN in a statement.

School officials are still gathering details about the incident, McLendon said, and it could be “quite some time before we have more information about the injury and overall incident,” he said.

Those in the crowd watching the game “likely did not witness anything unusual,” he said.

Deaths during football games are rare across all levels of play, experts say.

There were 16 deaths among football players in 2023, including seven among high school players, according to data collected by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.

Among those deaths, three were traumatic brain injuries — two in high school football and one in youth league. All three occurred during games. The rest of the deaths in 2023 were considered exertional or medical, with deaths caused by heat stroke, sudden cardiac arrest and pulmonary embolism among them.

Oliver called Caden a shining light who graced the halls of his private school. “He was a student, a friend, an athlete and most important a Christ follower. There are no words to describe how we feel as a school community and family,” Oliver said in a statement posted on social media.

A service will be scheduled soon, the Tellier family said. Morgan Academy school officials have suspended all school activities this week, according to the school association.

John T. Morgan Academy held a time of prayer Monday for students and parents to honor Caden, according to the school’s Facebook page.

“My son was an exceptional athlete, and my son loved playing football, and he loved playing baseball, and he loved trying to lead people in whatever sport he was doing. But my son’s favorite thing in the world to do was to talk about Jesus, Jamie Tellier, Caden’s father and assistant coach of the football team, said during the event.

Oliver, who also spoke at the event, said he could not recall a time when he did not see Caden with a smile on his face or helping someone in need.

Several local pastors, grief counselors and other community members were also at the school Monday to assist students, Oliver told CNN in a statement.

By Monday afternoon, a Go Fund Me campaign to help cover medical and other expenses for the family had raised more than $85,000.

CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht contributed to this report.

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