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Aunt of injured Carthage player to West Genesee JV: Don't blame yourselves

Original source (on modern site)

  1. High School Sports News

Syracuse, N.Y. -- The aunt of injured Carthage football player Tyler Christman visited a gathering of West Genesee junior varsity players on Monday afternoon with words of consolation for the worried Wildcats.

Faith Parks told the team that the tragedy that had Christman's life hanging in the balance on Monday night wasn't anyone's fault. Christman apparently suffered a head injury in the junior varsity game on Saturday and collapsed on the sidelines. He was rushed to Upstate where surgery revealed swelling along with a bleed in his frontal cortex.

"She said this was an accident. Nobody should feel at fault," said West Genesee junior varsity coach Brian McAvan. "She said Tyler would have wanted you to play. It was more of an empathy message than anything else."

Both McAvan and varsity head coach Joe Corley have said that there was no single hit or play that stood out as one that might have caused the tragedy.

"There was nothing that would raise your eyebrow. It was just a regular JV football game," McAvan said. "There was no warning."

Parks was invited to Monday's gathering because McAvan, Corley and the West Genesee community raised $3,500 in donations for the family in the past day. McAvan said Parks told him the family will use the money to start a scholarship in Christman's name.

McAvan and his brother, Sean, co-own McAvan's Pub. That business hosts a fundraiser for the Upstate Foundation, the charitable arm of Upstate. Brian said he asked the foundation to use money the pub raised to help out the family with whatever they need.

"We're doing all we can. It's really a heart-breaking situation," Brian said.

Support for Christman has poured across social media the past two days, with students from nearby schools wearing Carthage red to class and "Light it up for Tyler" held by the Carthage Fire Department at a local park.

"My newsfeed is a sea of Carthage Comet red. Tyler Christman you are loved by many. Our family is speechless, grateful and humbled by the continued support across the state of New York," Parks said in a Facebook post.

McAvan said the full JV team has not been together since the end of the game on Saturday. He said he will talk to the team about the situation before practice on Tuesday.

"We'll have a quick talk about what happened, and go from there," McAvan said.

Contact Lindsay Kramer anytime: Email | Twitter

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