ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – The Northeast High School football player who didn’t get up after a tackle, will give life to seven others, now that doctors consider him brain dead.
“As of now, Jacquez is completely brain dead. He has no oxygen or blood going to the brain,” said his mother, Marcia Nelson.
Surrounded by students, Northeast High Vikings players, staff and his coach, Nelson kept her composure as she told the packed church, Jacquez Welch will not recover.
But she didn’t dwell on the negative. “My son wanted to complete this year with a 4.0. He had a 4.0 before he left. He wanted to get a full scholarship. He got that,” she said.
And she insists, the condition her son is in, is in no way related to the game of football.
Jacquez started playing the game at an early age.
“He left this world doing what he loved more than anything else and that needs to be remembered and that needs to be honored and that needs to come into your head when the tears come into your eyes,” said Northeast’s Football Coach, Jeremy Friod.
Northeast will be a hosting a memorial game for Jacquez on Oct. 4. Students will be encouraged to wear shirts with his number 4.
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