Los Angeles-area high school student dies after injury at football game

A Los Angeles-area high school student who was recently injured during a football game has died, the high school’s principal said in a letter to the community last week.

The student at South East High School was injured in a junior varsity game against Maywood Center for Enriched Studies on Aug. 23.

South East High School Principal Eric Jaimes said in the message Wednesday, “I am saddened to report the recent death of one of our students.”

“On behalf of our entire school community, I want to offer my deepest condolences. At this time, we request that the privacy of those who have been impacted be respected during this difficult time. Please know that our entire school community offers our support,” Jaimes wrote in the message, provided by a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The Los Angeles Times reported the student needed medical assistance after he tackled another player on the sidelines of the game on Aug. 23.

The Los Angeles Unified School District has not released the student's name, and he was not identified in Jaimes’ message to the school community.

The message and the district did not specify a cause of death or say whether the death was football-related.

Jaimes said in the message that the school has crisis counselors available for students who need additional support.

“Every member of the South East High School community matters and this loss impacts us all,” he wrote.

The school district spokesperson said it is district policy that at least one medical professional be present at all football games.

Two medical staff members were at the game where the student was injured, and both attended to the student, the spokesperson said.

The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury said 16 youth league, middle school, high school and collegiate football players died last year.

Thirteen of the deaths were directly or indirectly related to football, it said in an annual report.

Three were directly related to football participation with traumatic brain injury and 10 were indirectly related, which includes things like exertion and medical issues like heatstroke and sudden cardiac arrest, the center said in the report.

Two were not related, and the cause in one death was unknown at the time of the report, it said.

A Florida high school football player died Friday after having collapsed on the field during a game. The 18-year-old's cause of death has not been publicly released. 

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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