A 13-year-old boy who appeared to be a “picture of health” suddenly collapsed and later died after going into cardiac arrest at football practice, according to his heartbroken family.
Caden Sorrell, a student at Northwest Guilford Middle School in Greensboro, N.C., had just run a lap around the field at the beginning of practice Friday when he went into cardiac arrest, WXII reported.
Caden, who has a twin brother and one of five siblings, died three days later.
“Caden was an angel from heaven; he was brilliant, sweet, smart, kind; he made everybody around him feel loved,” his heartbroken older sister, Vanessa Clark, told the outlet.
“He was a picture of health. We don’t know why [it happened] but it did,” Clark said.
Clark said she was shopping at Walmart when she got a call from her mother that upended her life.
Despite the doctors’ best efforts, Caden died at Cone Hospital on Sunday, according to a GoFundMe helping his family cover medical and funeral expenses.
“I was praying for him, and I hoped that he got better, that he was healed — which he was spiritually,” Clark said. “I’m there for him, and I love him.”
The fundraiser is also supporting medical evaluations for Caden’s siblings to determine whether or not the 13-year-old boy’s death was caused by an underlying genetic condition.
Northwest Guilford Middle School principal CeCe Matson asked the school community to keep Caden’s “family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.”
“As we grieve this loss, let us lean on one another and extend compassion to those around us. A caring heart and gentle presence can mean so much right now,” she wrote on social media.
A vigil for Caden will be held Wednesday night at Northwest Guilford High School.
