A Vancouver Island man has died after being hit on the head by a softball during a charity ball tournament on Aug. 19.
A Facebook posting on Wednesday, stated that 32-year-old Chris Godfrey “passed peacefully this afternoon with his loving and devoted wife Amanda by his side at Victoria General Hospital. Chris was a devoted father, husband, son, brother and friend to so many, and he is going to be greatly missed by all whose path he crossed.”
A posting on the GoFundMe for Chris Godfrey confirmed his passing.
Godfrey was the father of a one-year-old daughter, Faith.
https://www.facebook.com/nicole.michelle.921/posts/10159245642670223
Godfrey was playing at Lewis Park in Courtenay . He was running to first base when the ball struck him in the back of the head, causing a life-threatening injury.
He was rushed to St. Joseph’s General Hospital in Comox, then airlifted to Victoria General Hospital for brain surgery and had been on life support ever since.
Helmets will now be mandatory
Godfrey wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time, which is common in recreational slo-pitch leagues, but Victoria-area slo-pitch leagues have now made helmets mandatory in the wake of the incident.
“It’s one in a billion thing. Nobody has ever seen anything like that happen before and for the rest of my life, I’ll probably never see anything like that happen again. It’s tragic,” Scott Parsons, the organizer of the tournament, told CHEK News.
“He’s the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back even if it was the last thing he owned. He’s always there for you,” he added.
You Can Show Your Support
A GoFundMe page was set up in Chris Godfrey’s honor shortly after the incident. Over $39,000 has been raised to support his family.
