The boxing coach of the 27-year-old American who died on Wednesday sent a text before he passed saying he felt responsible. 'I let him down, my special kid'

Day died on Wednesday , four days after suffering brain trauma in a fight against Charles Conwell in Chicago on Saturday.
"I'm dying," Higgins said in a text to ESPN just before Day's death. "I feel like I'm responsible, like I let him down. My special kid."
He vowed never to train another kid to fight.
"Boxing sucks," he said. "It's a bloodsucker sport."
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Patrick Day's long-time trainer Joe Higgins sent a text to ESPN before the 27-year-old American died, saying he felt responsible for the boxer's hospitalization.

Day died on Wednesday from injuries sustained during a fight against Charles Conwell in Chicago on Saturday.

Day was knocked down in fourth, eighth, and 10th round, after which he needed oxygen treatment in the ring. He had seizures in an ambulance en route to hospital, had emergency brain surgery, and was in a coma ever since.

Promoter Lou DiBella confirmed his death on Wednesday evening.

Higgins, a former firefighter, met Day in New York when he was just 14, and subsequently invited him to train at the gym he owns, Freeport PAL.

He went on to oversee Day's career, from his first amateur fight until his last on Saturday.

Days after his prodigy's hospitalization, Higgins sent a text to ESPN . "I'm dying," he said. "I feel like I'm responsible, like I let him down. My special kid.

He then said he would shun the sport of boxing forever. "In honor of Patrick Day, no one's going to hit the last bag he hit, or spar in the last ring he sparred in. I'm not even donating it. That stuff's going somewhere no one can ever find it again. That's just the way I feel.

"I'm never watching another boxing match. I'm never training another kid. I'm never going to put another kid in danger of a punch. Ever.

"Boxing sucks. It's a bloodsucker sport."

Day's opponent, Charles Conwell, had also expressed regret.

"I never meant this to happen to you, all I wanted to do was win," said Conwell in a letter on Tuesday , a day prior to Day's passing. "If I could take it all back, I would. No-one deserves this to happen to them."