A freak accident on the football field left a 15-year-old Delaware County athlete dead.
Quadaar White, 15, died Tuesday morning after suffering a broken neck during a recreational league football practice last week.
Qua, as his friends called him, was a student at Upper Darby High School but he played football for the Greater 69th Street Wildcats Athletic Association.
During practice last week, Qua suffered a neck injury after a collision with another player. He was rushed to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he died Tuesday morning.
The boy’s coach, Carl Graham, said a tragedy like this has never happened to the Wildcats before.
"I've been involved 17 years with the organization and never nothing like this," Graham said. "This was just a really bad accident."
After news of Qua’s death spread friends and family gathered to remember him with a candlelight vigil Tuesday night.
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"He was a really nice young man," said Qua’s friend Gameel Strange. "Other than my friend, I looked at him like a little brother."
"He was just one happy guy," said Toi Veao. "I'm really gonna miss him."
It wasn’t clear if there was going to be an investigation into the accident. Grief counselors would however be on hand at Upper Darby High on Wednesday.
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