Georgia: A football player wounded in a football match

A Georgian high school football player has died as a result of injuries sustained in a match, school officials said.

Dylan Thomas, a linebacker at Pike County High School, suffered a head injury in last Friday's game. Thomas, a junior, was hit in the second quarter of the game and later collapsed when one arm and one leg became numb, his uncle, Nick Burgess, told The Associated Press.

Thomas was rushed to the WellStar Spalding Regional Hospital before being transferred to the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta where he was operated on.

According to an article published on Facebook by Burgess, Thomas was suffering from swelling of the brain and had fallen into a coma. He died Sunday night.

"Dylan was an active participant in our school community and a member of the 2020 class. Remember his family in the days to come," said Michael Duncan, Superintendent of Schools, and from Kevin Huffstetler, director of Pike County High School.

The news of Thomas' death has inspired friends, students and other members of the community to flood social media tributes to Thomas.

Thomas' death comes as linebacker Christion Abercrombie of Tennessee State University was sent to emergency surgery after being injured in the head during a match against Vanderbilt University. He is still in critical condition at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Abercrombie – also linebacker – left the field without any help. Abercrombie told the trainers that he had a headache. Then, minutes later, he collapsed, according to his trainer.

Recent injuries in high school, college football and professional football have opened the debate to demand stricter safety rules in the sport.

A survey conducted earlier this year by NBC News revealed that 48% of Americans said they would encourage a child who wanted to play football to play a different sport because of concussion concerns.