The parent of a middle school football player in Tennessee has sued the Rutherford County Board of Education (RCBE) after her son sustained permanent brain damage during a game on Sept. 1, 2015.
Plaintiff Lovetta Victory claimed in a lawsuit filed in United States District Court in Nashville that the defendant did not provide an ambulance, or have a properly equipped paramedic present during the game.
Caleb Victory was injured after he suffered a “significant blow to his head during a play,” according to the lawsuit. He then collapsed on the sideline and experienced a seizure caused, which was allegedly caused by the injury to his brain.
The son, whose brain was allegedly in a “seizure state” for more than 20 minutes, suffered permanent brain damage, according to the lawsuit. The seizure ended when paramedics arrived and administered treatment. He was later taken by LifeFlight to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. Both coaches and the game administrator agreed to end the game with time left in the fourth quarter
The plaintiff contends in her lawsuit that had an ambulance been at the game it would have mitigated the damage caused by the seizure.
Further, she claims that RCBE was aware of the risk of traumatic brain injuries to students participating in the school’s athletic programs and was responsible for providing adequate emergency medical assistance for students who suffer such injuries during participation.
Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Executive Director Bernard Childress told the media after the incident that the organization takes injuries very seriously. “We always say this is not about winning and losing, this is about life and death,” Childress was quoted as saying. “Our athletes are first and foremost.”
He added then that the injury was the result of a legal hit.
“As a matter of fact, they said, according to the coaches and the officials, it wasn’t even a hard hit,” Childress said. “It just happened that he was hit at the right place.”
