After Sweet Home High School student-athlete Mason Flores died Monday, Oct. 5, following a brain injury suffered in a JV football game against Marist Catholic a week earlier, University of Oregon head football coach Dan Lanning opened his weekly press conference with a message to Flores’ family and teammates.

“(I) want his family to know we’re thinking about them,” Lanning said Monday night. “I have two sons that play football myself, and to go through something like that — that’s not something any parent or teammate should ever deal with, so thinking of them as we continue to prep. Life is a lot bigger than football, so that is certainly something that hits home, and we want to keep them in our thoughts.”

Flores was taken via Life Flight to Portland to undergo emergency brain surgery following a hit to the head during the Sept. 28 game. He did not recover and underwent preparation to become an organ donor, GoFundMe organizer Rebecca Burgin wrote in an update post on the platform Saturday. Monday was Flores’ 16th birthday.

“There are no words that can make this easier,” Burgin wrote. “But as we prepare for that goodbye, I don’t want Mason’s story to be remembered only for the tragedy that brought us to this moment.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the GoFundMe account has raised more than $67,000 of its $75,000 goal.

Sweet Home School District superintendent Terry Martin released a video statement Monday urging the community to honor Flores’ family’s wishes: to remember him for his smile, and promise him “to keep living, to laugh louder, to love our people fiercely, to make memories and to cheer from the sidelines.”

Martin’s message said Sweet Home will proceed with its scheduled homecoming events Friday, with the Flores’ family blessing, to honor Mason.