DALHART, Texas — A west Texas high school football player died Saturday after reportedly suffering a head injury two nights earlier during a junior varsity game, school officials said.
Yahir Cancino was injured during the fourth quarter of a game between his team -- the Dalhart Golden Wolves -- and the Sundown Roughnecks, according to a news release from the Dalhart Independent School District.
Cancino was unresponsive after suffering an injury and was airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock, about 80 miles away, according to The Dallas Morning News. KCBD-TV in Lubbock reported that Cancino had suffered a head injury.
School officials said that the boy was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit of the hospital.
The district held a prayer vigil Friday night at the Dalhart High School stadium, but a Facebook page dedicated to the football team announced that Cancino had died.
“We ask for prayers for peace and healing not only for us but for all the people Yahir touched in his life,” Cancino’s mother, Araceli Hernandez, stated in a Facebook post, according to KCBD. “We have chosen to donate his organs because Yahir was always about helping people and we want to honor his memory.”
Dalhart is a Class 3A Division I school in the west Texas Panhandle, northwest of Amarillo, the Morning News reported.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Sunday night at the Dalhart High School’s Memorial Stadium, according to KCBD.
“(Yahir’s death) is an unbelievable tragedy that has touched our entire community.,” Dalhart ISD Superintendent Jeff Byrd said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Yahir’s family. The Dalhart community will continue to surround and support them.”