The dangers of playing football were never more apparent after a Florida teen collapsed during a high school game last Friday, ABC 13 reports.
Just moments after he scored a 60-yard touchdown, 17-year-old Jacquez Welch was playing on the opposite side of the ball when he joined his teammates in a group tackle. Once the play was over, Welch didn't return to his feet. Paramedics rushed the athlete to the hospital, where doctors discovered that Welch had a rare, pre-existing brain condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The local ABC-affiliate describes, AVM as "an abnormal connection between the arteries and veins in the brain."
Although her son's death took place on the football field, Welch's mother, Marcia Nelson, doesn't want his passing to taint the game he loved. "I don't want anybody to be scared of sports," Nelson said. "It just happened to him at an early age, doing what he loved to do."
Nelson and her family developed a plan to donate her son's organs to seven people. He was then taken off life support on Monday after an honor walk. Nelson described her son as a giving person that would be proud that his organs are being used by those in need. "I am content," Nelson explained. "This is not anything I could control."
