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KENTUCKY TODAY

The Somerset community is mourning the death of a Pulaski County High School teenager who died Monday morning, three days after suffering a severe brain injury in a varsity football spring game.

Andrew Dodson was running the football in the Pulaski County Maroon and White spring game when he was tackled by a teammate, according to his father, Alan Dodson, a former regional consultant with the Kentucky Baptist Convention. “it was not a violent hit or helmet-to-helmet. It was a simple, clean tackle.”

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Andrew Dodson would have been a senior this fall at Pulaski County High School.

Andrew suffered blunt-force trauma to the brain when his head hit the turf, his father said. He had major surgery to relieve the pressure but never awakened after being put on a ventilator. Andrew was taken off life support Monday morning. He would have been a senior this fall.

“No words can explain, justify or rationalize tragedies such as these,” a Kentucky High School Athletic Association social media post about the death of Andrew Dodson said.

Andrew’s church family at Immanuel Baptist Church in Somerset and his classmates gathered to pray and sing hymns outside the Lake Cumberland Hospital in the parking garage upon learning of the news. He was highly respected and loved by classmates, teammates, and friends. Andrew, a member of Immanuel, fiercely defended his faith.

“Our hearts are absolutely broken for the Dodson family,” said Todd Gray, executive director of the KBC. “I and so many Kentucky Baptists will be praying for them in the days ahead. Our confidence is that the God who overcame death will minister to this precious family in their time of need.”