Mayor Troy Brumbelow on Thursday proclaimed March 2025 as Blood Clot Awareness Month for the City of Cumming and Forsyth County following the recent deaths of two local young people attributed to undiagnosed pulmonary embolism.

The proclamation cites that blood clots, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, affect hundreds of thousands of Americans each year and can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated promptly. The mayor read the proclamation and invited family members to speak.

Veronica Crookton, who identified herself as the mother of Finley Crookton, described her son as a senior football player at Denmark High School who had committed to play Division I football at Marist College. She said Finley had an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism related to a blood-clotting condition known as factor V Leiden and that his condition was not identified before his collapse. "It is our goal and duty until we meet him in heaven one day to spread awareness and help others," Crookton said, adding that the family has created a foundation to bring education into schools.

Crookton said many clotting disorders are not routinely screened for and that symptoms such as unexplained swelling, pain, shortness of breath and chest discomfort should prompt medical attention. She also said that when Finley was placed on ECMO clinicians later determined a clotting event; though he did not survive, he was an organ donor.

The proclamation and the family's remarks were presented as awareness and education measures; no policy action or funding was proposed or adopted at the meeting. The family said the new foundation intends to pursue school-based education and community outreach to increase early recognition of clotting disorders.

The mayor handed the proclamation to Crookton, and Council members offered their condolences. The proclamation references the national designation of March as Blood Clot Awareness Month and frames the local proclamation as a step to raise awareness and encourage proactive health-care discussions.

Looking ahead, Crookton said the foundation will pursue programs in schools and community outreach; specific dates, curricula or funding sources for those programs were not specified at the meeting.