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High-school football player Damon Janes dies after helmet-to-helmet collision

A 16-year-old high school football player has died in a Buffalo hospital after being knocked unconscious by a helmet-to-helmet collision in a game last Friday, The Buffalo News reported Monday.

Damon Janes, a junior running back on the Westfield/Brocton High team, died Monday in Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, according to the report.

In a statement, Janes' parents expressed their “gratitude to those who have supported and prayed for Damon and his family.”

Here is the full statement released by his parents and family, according to WKBW:

"Damon W. Janes, 16, a Junior who attended Brocton Central School, lost his fight and went to be with the Lord following his injury resulting from helmet-to-helmet collision during a Westfield/Brocton varsity football game.

His parents wish to express their gratitude to those who have supported and prayed for Damon and his family, and continue to request that their privacy be respected at this time."

Janes' death marks the second time in less than a month that a high-school player has died from injuries suffered on the field. In mid-August, De'Antre Turman, a 16-year-old junior at Creekside High School in Fairburn, Ga., fractured a vertebrae in his upper spinal cord during a scrimmage.