The mother of a high school cheerleader in Connecticut has sued a school district after a coach allegedly failed to follow concussion protocol, when the cheerleader suffered a head injury and was re-inserted in practice and game that night, compounding the head injury.
The injury occurred on Nov. 14, 2014 during a practice of the Glastonbury High School cheerleading team. Nyree O’Reilly, the mother of the cheerleader, alleged that the squad, under the supervision of assistant cheerleading coach Kate Smachetti, was practicing stunts in the gym with her daughter participating as part of the base. “Suddenly the girl above her began to fall and struck O’Reilly in the head,” according to the lawsuit. “O’Reilly fell backward and fell fast and hard to the hardwood gymnasium floor, on which she banged the back of her head.”
The daughter remained on the floor “for some time” before getting to her feet, according to the complaint. She resumed practice with the squad. But her teammates noted, that she “appeared dazed, confused, moved clumsily … was unable to recall a cheer when prompted and responded slowly to instruction.”
The mother claimed in the lawsuit, filed Feb. 3, 2015 in Superior Court in Hartford, that she confronted the coach, suggesting that her daughter “looked upset and dazed.” Nevertheless, she cheered “at least three quarters of a basketball game that (same) night.”
Subsequently, the daughter’s condition worsened. She was taken to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. The doctor there confirmed she had suffered a concussion. She was treated at the hospital and private facilities and released. However, she allegedly continued to suffer from “diminished mental capacity and difficulty focusing her attention; emotional pain and suffering and limitation of motion.”
The mother claimed in the lawsuit that “medical providers believe if she had been placed in concussion protocol immediately following her fall during cheerleading practice, her injuries would have been mitigated or even avoided entirely. Coach Smachetti had a duty to enact concussion protocol.”
The lawsuit, which seeks $14 million in damages, relies heavily on a 2014 state law that requires coaches to remove an athlete when they observe any signs or symptoms of a concussion. The law also requires the athlete to be cleared by a medical professional before they can return to play
O’Reilly contends in the lawsuit that “medical providers believe if she had been placed in concussion protocol immediately following her fall during cheerleading practice, her injuries would have been mitigated or even avoided entirely. Coach Smachetti had a duty to enact concussion protocol.”
A recent University of Pittsburgh study confirmed the science. In fact, Director of the Yale-New Haven Concussion Clinic Katherine Holmes recently talked about the dangers of returning athletes to play before their brain has healed.
“If kids are returning to sport before their symptoms have resolved. It’s kind of the concept of two plus two doesn’t equal four. It can have compounding effect,” she said.
