Family launches awareness campaign after Philadelphia high school football player unexpectedly dies
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new awareness campaign launched Monday that follows a $12 million settlement over the death of a Philadelphia high school football player.
Isaiah Turner's mother and grandfather are preparing to have Christmas without the beloved 17-year-old.
"This is actually a day or two before he passed away," said Turner's mother Kimberly Snowden. "It's like a piece of your heart is gone because he was my flesh of my flesh, he was my baby, so it's tough."
Turner died in 2020 after football practice at La Salle College High School.
"I'm talking in his ear, 'Isaiah, come on, what are you doing? Get up. It's pop pop.' Hardest thing I ever had to do," John Snowden, Turner's grandfather, said.
"We found out he died from exertional sickling," Kimberly Snowden said. "He had a sickle cell crisis."
Kimberly Snowden says the school had been informed that he had something called "sickle cell trait" – not the disease – but a gene that carries it.
Doctors say it's safe to play sports with the condition as long as precautions are taken, like proper hydration, and knowing the warning signs for potential problems.
For Turner, it started with muscle cramps.
"This is a condition that can be treated, lives can be saved, it all depends on one very fundamental thing - information education," Mark Tanner, a lawyer said.
Tanner represented the family in a lawsuit against the school that resulted in a $12 million settlement.
"I think with the proper knowledge and precautions it could have been prevented," Kimberly Snowden said.
Kimberly Snowden says quick medical attention could have saved her son.
With hopes to prevent a similar tragedy, they're launching a new campaign called, "Raising Awareness for Isaiah."
On the website, there's a link to various guidelines, including from the CDC, with specific information for coaches about how to keep athletes with sickle cell trait safe.
"Isaiah lost his life because those folks that needed to be educated on sickle cell trait and needed to be alert for those warning signs simply didn't have that knowledge," Tanner said.
For his family, this will be another heartbreaking Christmas without him, their beloved star athlete.
"Isaiah was amazing, he was funny, he was smart," Kimberly Snowden said.
CBS Philadelphia reached out to La Salle College High School for comment but did not hear back.
