The parents of Ted Agu, who was a 21-year-old student athlete and a member of the University of California Berkeley (UCB) football team, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against The Regents of The University of California after their son died following a pre-season conditioning drill with his football team earlier this year.
The plaintiffs, Ambrose and Emilia Agu, allege that their son died “because of the reckless and negligent behavior of UCB football trainers and coaches, who subjected Agu to a lethal conditioning drill for a player with known sickle cell trait,” according to Agu’s attorneys — Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, The Yerrid Law Firm and Jeffrey D. Murphy.
On February 7, 2014, Agu was participating in a conditioning drill near Memorial Stadium on the UCB campus. During the course of the conditioning drill, Agu allegedly experienced dizziness, shortness of breath, loss of balance, and other signs of extreme fatigue that “were clearly symptomatic of the sickling process. Despite the symptoms which clearly could and should have been observed, UCB coaches and trainers failed to immediately come to Agu’s assistance. It was only after Agu struggled and encountered obvious difficulties for a significant period of time that he was placed on a cart and taken back toward the stadium where he collapsed for the last time. Emergency personnel transported Agu to Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley where he was pronounced dead.”
The Alameda County Coroner’s office said in April that Agu died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which is an excessive thickening of the heart muscle. But Agu’s attorneys maintain that his death was brought on by the sickle cell trait, not a heart condition.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys maintain that Agu was placed in a conditioning drill that “was inappropriate and too extreme given his known medical condition.”
The plaintiffs’ attorneys went on to note that Agu was under the supervision of Cal Berkeley’s head athletic trainer for football, Robert Jackson. Jackson prior to becoming employed by Cal Berkeley, was “involved in a remarkably similar death of another college football player. In 2008, (he) was the supervising athletic trainer responsible for the welfare of Ereck Plancher, a 19-year-old wide receiver for the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Like Agu, Plancher also carried the sickle cell trait and during pre-season conditioning drills, he experienced nearly identical symptoms of distress as he struggled, sickled and collapsed while under the supervision of Jackson. As with Agu, trainer Jackson failed to intervene and allowed a struggling Plancher to continue the excessively difficult and punishing drill that directly resulted in Plancher’s death. In 2011, Plancher’s family, represented by Steve Yerrid and Jeff Murphy, took the case to a three week trial against UCF Athletics Association, Inc., and obtained a jury verdict and final judgment (including, costs, fees and interest awarded by the court) that is now almost $15 million. Currently, that case is on appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.”
Casey Batten, Cal’s team physician, offered a different perspective, suggesting to the media that “members of the training staff recognized that Agu was struggling, pulled him out of the run and transferred him by cart to the team’s medical facility inside the stadium. He was on the back of the cart, he was talking, he was hydrating, he did not exhibit any labored breathing or other signs until he got to the north tunnel,” according to Batten.
In response to the lawsuit, the Cal athletic department released the following statement: “When Cal’s medical staff on scene saw Ted show signs of problems, they reacted promptly. But as the Alameda County Coroner’s report states, the cause of death was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which suggests there was little anyone could have done to save him.
“While we cannot discuss any student’s specific medical history, we follow all recommended protocols, including those outlined by the NCAA, for all student-athletes with identified medical conditions. We want to make clear that we are committed to ensuring the care and safety of all our student-athletes, and we have great confidence in our athletic department’s staff’s ability to do so.”
