A 13-year-old student at a North Carolina middle school died after going into cardiac arrest during a football practice in August.

Caden Sorrell collapsed at the beginning of the August 28 practice and was later transported to a local hospital.

The Northwest Middle School student passed away after being on life support for two days.

“Today, our Northwest Middle School family is grieving the loss of one of our students,” Northwest Middle School principal CeCe Matson stated on Facebook.

“There are no easy words to make sense of losing a child, and our hearts are with the family, friends, classmates, and all who loved him,” Matson continued.

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Around 500 people gathered at Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro to celebrate Caden’s life.

“I knew he touched people, but I didn’t know it was to that extent,” Laura Sorrell, his mother, told USA TODAY.

USA TODAY shared further:

The outpouring of support, which includes a GoFundMe that has raised more than $48,000 as of Thursday afternoon, goes to show how impactful Caden was to his community, friends and family.

“He made sure everyone felt like he was their best friend, but also his. And that was genuine from him,” Caden’s older sister, Vanessa Clark, told USA TODAY Sports. “Obviously, from last night, everyone can see (what he meant).

“…We’re trying to make sure everybody says, ‘Live like Caden,’ in everything published about him. He was a hugger and lover.”

On Aug. 28, Laura said she received a phone call no parent wants to receive. She was told her that her son collapsed at football practice. When she and her husband arrived, Caden was in cardiac arrest.

Caden was then transported to Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital.

“They worked on him for a long time,” Laura said. “They refused to give up. They were going to keep trying to treat him like he was their own. And they put him on life support for two days. Then the tests came back; it was Saturday afternoon, and they said he didn’t have brain activity.”

Laura discussed the difficulty of making the decision to take Caden off life support.

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“I know how Caden was and each of my kids came to me separately and told me that they knew he did not want to be like that,” Laura said, according to the New York Post.

“He wouldn’t want to be like that. So his dad and I got together and decided we didn’t want to put them or him through that anymore,” she continued.

“Even though we wanted to be selfish and keep him with us, we knew that was the right thing to do,” she added.

More from the New York Post:

Caden’s parents spent the night with him in the hospital before he was pronounced dead on Sunday. The two of them barely slept, Laura said: “It was like every minute, you want to keep that last minute with you.”

The Sorrells have now turned their attention to helping Caden’s four surviving siblings. According to a GoFundMe page set up for the family, doctors believe Caden’s cardiac arrest may have been caused by an underlying genetic condition.

Each of his siblings are set to undergo genetic testing to identify the condition.

“We all can’t help but wonder, ‘If Caden had (been tested), would we have known?’” Caden’s oldest sister, Vanessa, said.

The family is now using its tragedy to try to save other kids from the same fate. Laura urges other parents to have their children tested for cardiac issues that could surface at any time.

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“If they have any family history of cardiac arrest, have them checked,” Laura said. “Or even if they don’t have any history, have them checked. Genetic testing, EKG’s, especially before [playing] sports.”

“That’s what he would want,” Laura and Vanessa said.

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