‘UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY’

Baltimore High School Football Player Dies After Serious Game Injury

Elijah Gorham, a senior wide receiver in Baltimore, was hurt after trying to make a catch in the end zone.

A football player at Baltimore’s Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School has died, officials said Monday. Brandon Scott, Baltimore’s mayor, called Elijah Gorham’s death an “unspeakable tragedy” in a statement. The 18-year-old senior wide receiver was initially injured on Sept. 18 during a game against a rival high school. After Gorham landed hard trying to make a catch, he was taken to a local hospital by ambulance. The nature of his injury was not disclosed at the time, and the teenager remained hospitalized until his death. As of Monday, the official cause of death had not been made clear. “We knew he was in a medically induced coma and we were under the impression that things were progressing satisfactorily,” Mervo coach Patrick Nixon said. “So today is a bit of a shock for us because we didn’t anticipate this.” The coach added that Gorham “really was a good kid through and through.”