Mervo High School dedicates mural to fallen football player Elijah Gorham
BALTIMORE -- A mural was dedicated Friday at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School honoring a student-athlete who tragically died last year.
Retailer DTLR commissioned the mural to be made on the high school's campus. It was created by local artist Cody Canty.
Members of the Mervo Football Program and the Gorham family were there for the dedication at noon Friday.
Elijah Gorham, a 17-year-old student, died Oct. 11, 2021, roughly three weeks after he collapsed following a collision with another player during Mervo's Sept. 18 matchup against Dunbar High School.
Baltimore City approved a $345,000 settlement with the family in April.
During the game, Gorham and a defender both went for a pass in the end zone, and Gorham, "unable to break his fall with his hands, was driven into the ground face-first by the momentum of the play, with the defender landing on top of him," City Solicitor James Shea wrote in a memo on the settlement. After remaining on the ground for some time, he got up and ran to the sideline, where he collapsed and began seizing, Shea wrote.
Following his death, the Mustangs dedicated the remainder of the season to their teammate and went on to win the 4A/3A State Championship Football game against Dundalk, 22-13.
"Through adversity, oftentimes, people come closer," head football coach and athletic director Patrick Nixon said in December. "I think we've come a lot closer because of the loss of Elijah."
