High School Football Player Dies After Helmet-To-Helmet Collision

16-year-old high school football player Damon Janes died on Monday night after suffering a deadly helmet-to-helmet collision against Portville High (New York).

The Olean Times Herald reports that Janes walked off the field under his own power on Friday night, but was later rushed to Olean General Hospital and then to Buffalo’s Women & Children’s Hospital.

The precise cause of death has not been revealed at this time.

According to The Buffalo News, Damon W. Janes was a junior at Brocton Central School.

Helmet-to-helmet collisions have become a big problem in the National Football League (NFL), with officials creating new rules to avoid the practice as much as possible. The NFL already has helmet-to-helmet collision rules in place and they are strengthening those rules in 2013 and 2014.

The high school player’s death is the second such incident in the last month. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina, College Park (Georgia) Creekside High star DeAntre “Tre Tre” Turman died in August after breaking his neck during a scrimmage.

Following Damon Janes’ death, Portville coach Gary Swetland told the Times Herald:

“Our heart goes out to the Janes family. It’s just a tragic, tragic circumstance. Our players are saddened, our families are saddened, our school is saddened, our coaches are saddened, our officials are saddened, bus drivers, everybody. There is no one who isn’t desperately saddened by this.”

The Janes family followed the coaches statement with a message on WKBW News:

“Damon W. Janes, 16, a Junior who attended Brocton Central School, lost his fight and went to be with the Lord following his injury resulting from helmet-to-helmet collision during a Westfield/Brocton varsity football game.”

In the meantime, a memorial page for the high school football player has been setup on Facebook and has received more than 2,000 likes.