A Missouri high school student was hospitalized after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during a varsity football playoff game on October 31st (Halloween). About two weeks later, on Thursday, November 14th, the young man succumbed to his brain injuries and passed away.
The player, Chad Stover, was in his junior year at Tipton High School. Stover had remained hospitalized, in a coma and in critical condition, since an ambulance took him from the October 31st football game to a nearby emergency room. He died 14 days later at a hospital in Columbia, Missouri according to Scott Jarvis, superintendent of the Tipton School District. Jarvis provided a public statement regarding Stover’s death on November 15th, on behalf of the family.
Specific event causing Traumatic Brain Injury has not been released
Officials have not yet officially determined how Stover, age 17, was actually injured. Jarvis said last week he did not have the authority to publicly disclose any details surrounding the injury but noted it was “very serious.”
Jason West, spokesman for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), said the association had been made aware of Stover’s injury and death, but the association was not certain how Stover was injured. “We do know the game was halted at that time,” West stated.
He said the MSHSAA plans to conduct a procedural audit to review how the injury was dealt with on the field in the town of Sedalia where the game was played. While the association recommends having some type of medical service available at football games, is only requires each school to have an action plan in place to deal with medical emergencies. West noted that preliminary information indicates the school did in fact follow its action plan accordingly.
Community rallies behind family of deceased player
Both the school and Stover’s family have received outpourings of support since the injury first occurred. Schools across the state of Missouri displayed red ribbons in honor of Tipton’s school colors. Some even displayed Stover’s jersey number (18) on their fields. Local residents also covered his central Missouri town of Tipton in red ribbons in Stover’s memory.
Stover’s mother, Amy created a personalized page on the Caring Bridge website. Viewing Chad’s page requires visitors to log in using a Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, or Yahoo username for access. Amy Stover posted several entries expressing the family’s gratitude for the tremendous support they had received.
Chad was a very popular, intelligent student, and the Stovers are active participants of the Tipton school community, according to Superintendent Jarvis. “If you wanted to pick a kid to be your son, that’d be the one you’d pick,” Jarvis also said.
References:
MSN – Fox Sports
