American football player Medrick Burnett Jr dies a month after head-on-head collision in Alabama game
29 November 2024, 19:58 | Updated: 29 November 2024, 20:42
An American football player has died a month after suffering a head-on-head collision during a college game.
Medrick Burnett Jr was playing for Alabama A&M; University against Alabama State University on 26 October - the day before his birthday - when the severe injury occurred.
His sister said on his GoFundMe page that the 20-year-old linebacker had "several brain bleeds and swelling of the brain" following the collision in Birmingham, a city in the southeastern US state.
In a "last resort" to save his life, Dominece James said he'd had a craniotomy - the surgical removal of part of the skull to expose the brain.
Alabama A&M; athletic department announced his death on Wednesday but later sent a retraction, saying the news had come via "an immediate family member".
Jefferson County coroner confirmed on Friday that Burnett Jr had died on Wednesday evening.
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The freshman was from Lakewood, California, and joined Alabama A&M; in the summer after starting his college career at Louisiana's Grambling State University.
(c) Sky News 2024: American football player Medrick Burnett Jr dies a month after head-on-head collision in Alabama game