After her 12-year-old son passed away after falling during a no-contact football practise, a mother in New Jersey is seeking explanations.
Elijah Jordan Brown-Garcia, a sixth-grader at KIPP Rising Academy in Newark, fell and lost consciousness on February 10 while participating in drills, according to his family and a school representative.
“He was so happy to be there. He didn’t know that it was going to be his last day,” the boy’s mother, Raven Brown, told News 12 New Jersey.
Elijah participated in games with the Essex County Predators. Elijah was not responding, and Brown claimed to be at the practise with his 10-year-old brother, who called her to let her know.
“I said, ‘What are they doing? What is anybody doing?’ And he said, ‘They are pouring water on him, and they are fanning him.’ And that’s when I got my kids together and I said, ‘I’m on my way,'” she said.
According to Brown, who spoke to the television station, her kid did not receive CPR, and the ambulance waited a while to arrive at the scene. Elijah passed away at University Hospital in Newark after being eventually transported there.
A hospital spokesperson said Friday: “University Hospital extends its deepest condolences to the grieving family of this young person. For privacy reasons, however, UH cannot comment on protected health information regarding our patients, including confirmation of a patient’s identity.”
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Brown said that her son did not get hit during practice and was a healthy child. It was “no contact. It was just drills running back and forth,” she said.
A cause of death has not been disclosed.
Elijah was remembered by his school as a “kind, outgoing student who was a friend to all.”
“Elijah will be deeply missed by our KIPP students, families and educators,” the school spokesperson said.
Essex County Predators league said: “Our Hearts are crushed and our condolences scream out to the family of our very own Elijah E2 Brown. We love You.
