When you send your kids to school or their favorite sporting activities, the last thing you ever think is that they’ll die that day. Well, that’s what happened to one family. A community and family are grieving today.
De’Antre Turman, a 16-year-old from Fairburn, Georgia, died during a practice game with another team. According to a report, it was during this scrimmage the young Creekside High School defensive back broke his neck in front of a crowd of onlookers.
“Witnesses at the scrimmage at Banneker High School, including Turman’s coach from an after-school college prep program, IDareU, Glenn Ford, watched Turman cover the Banneker receiver.The receiver caught the ball downfield and Turman immediately tackled him.”
“Turman just went limp,” Ford said.
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Also a cornerback for the Seminoles, Turman was one of his state’s top football prospects for 2015. The 5’11”, 164-pound 11th grader, received a football scholarship from a college in Kentucky just last month. John White, a former Creekside head coach who knew Turman, said the community is devastated.
“He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever dealt with in my 18 years of coaching,” White said. “He was quiet, but always smiling.”
Ford said, while watching from the field, many thoughts went through his head after watching Turman go down. He said he ran over to help, and then saw the young man wasn’t breathing.
“We were calling his name, just trying to get him to come back, open his eyes,” Ford said. “It took 15 minutes for the paramedics to arrive.”
After the incident, Turman was taken to Grady Hospital. As a result of his injury, Turman died from a fracture to his third vertebrae, according to a report. He was pronounced dead by a Fulton County Medical Examiner Saturday night.