High School Football Star Tragically Dies During ACL Surgery the Day After Making College Decision

The life of a young high school football player preparing to prove himself at the next level was tragically cut short.

While undergoing ACL surgery on January 11, 18-year-old high school standout Nick Dixon passed away just a day after he committing to play Division II football at Wingate University.

Less than an hour into the surgery, Dixon began to exhibit symptoms of a hereditary condition called malignant hyperthermia, which caused his body temperature to rise in response to the anesthetic he was given.

Around noon, the time that the surgery was originally scheduled to be finished, his mother, Terri, was allowed into see him, completely unaware that he had gone into cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead just four hours later.

It's hard to imagine that something so tragic could happen what is widely considered a routine procedure in the sports world. And it's only made worse by the fact that it happened to an unsuspecting football player who had his whole life ahead of him.

But not everything to come out of his death has been bad. Dixon's family is using this tragedy to spread awareness about malignant hyperthermia.

"We don’t want this to happen to anyone else," said his mother.

It's mystifying how this happened, though, and now his loved ones have to live in the absence of a bright light that was put out far too soon.