Xavier McClain, 16, was a sophomore for the Linden Tigers football team when he sustained a head injury during a Sept. 9 game, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead told CNN.
Xavier’s parents told CNN affiliate WABC-TV that they regularly attended their son’s games but missed the one where he was injured – something they have to live with, they say.
“He was social, smart, gifted and talented in every sport,” Lisa McClain, the teen’s mother, told the partner. “And I’ll never see him graduate from high school.”
“He was only sixteen, he had his whole life ahead of him,” said his father Norm McClain, adding he hoped no other player suffered such an injury.
Mayor Armstead said he’s close to Xavier’s family and told CNN his children played in a basketball league with both Xavier and his brother.
In a post on Instagram, Armstead said Xavier “fought a good fight” but ultimately succumbed to the injuries sustained. “This news hurts because I’ve known his parents, Lisa and Norm, Xavier and Andres, their two sons, for years since they were little boys,” Armstead said in the Post. “Norm and Lisa are devastated. Children should outlive their parents, not the other way around.”
The school district has set up counseling support for students, staff and families and continues to offer “prayers and support” to Xavier’s family, according to their statement.
The precinct has also planned to hold a minute’s silence and reading on Xavier ahead of Friday’s football game, which was postponed from a day earlier, to “give the team (an) extra day to come to terms with their defeat”, says the statement.