Florida football player removed from life support: reports

A Florida high school football player who collapsed during Friday’s game has been taken off life support, according to multiple reports.

The Tampa Bay Times first reported that Marcia Nelson, mother of 17-year-old Jacquez Welch, told a mourning crowd at Gateway Baptist Church in St. Petersburg on Monday that her son was brain dead and his organs will be donated.

Welch, a senior at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, never recovered after making a tackle Friday night, according to WFTS. News outlets report he was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered a rare brain condition called arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. The Mayo Clinic defines AVM as “a tangle of abnormal blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in the brain.”

Nelson, who was in the stands when her son collapsed, stressed to the congregation that his injury had nothing to do with football. She added his organs will save seven lives.

Welch, who played linebacker and running back, had just received his first collegiate football offer from Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn.

C. Isaiah Smalls II is a reporter covering breaking and trending news for the Miami Herald. Previously, he worked for ESPN’s The Undefeated as part of their inaugural class of Rhoden Fellows. He is a graduate of both Columbia University and Morehouse College.