13-year-old middle school student dies after head injury during soccer practice

A middle school student tragically died after suffering a head injury during football practice in Madison, West Virginia. He was 13 years old.

Cohen Craddock, an eighth-grader at Madison Middle School in West Virginia, injured his head while practicing with the team on Friday, Joseph Smith, executive director of the Boone County Ambulance Authority, told local news station WSAZ.

Smith said paramedics responded to the incident and Craddock was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, he died from his injuries the next day, according to WSAZ.

Cohen's father, Ryan Craddock, spoke to NBC News on Tuesday and said Cohen sustained the injury when he collided with teammates and fell.

The father said the injury “caused brain swelling, which created a snowball effect that ultimately led to his death.”

Ryan described his son as “very, very smart” and an outstanding math student with ambitions in computer engineering. “As a father, I couldn't have been prouder,” he told NBC.

Speaking to WSAZ, Ryan said his son enjoyed joking and playing football at his school, both for the sport and the social aspect. “He liked the social aspect, just making friends,” Ryan told the local station.

“I can't stress enough that parents should hug their children,” he continued to WSAZ. Ryan said he has been in “disbelief” since his son's death. “You wish it was a bad dream that you could wake up from. It's torture inside. I can't put it into words. [it]. It's terrible.”

Following the tragedy, Ryan said he wanted to raise awareness about safety measures for student athletes, specifically urging Madison Middle School and other youth football programs to use Guardian Caps, a protective headgear for athletes.

“I want to take the loss of my boy to try to protect the other boys,” Ryan told WSAZ, adding, “I don't want anyone else to have to go through what we're going through right now.”

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The father told NBC he believes the outcome for his son “could have been a little different” if the caps or protection had been used on Cohen's head.

“And I want to at least protect all the other kids that I can, starting at the district level, if I can take it up to the state or federal level to push for those kids to start wearing Guardian Caps, at least at practice or however far they want to go,” he told NBC.