University To Pay $14M To Deceased Athlete's Family

University To Pay $14M To Deceased Athlete's Family

Introduction

The University of the Cumberlands made a deal with an athlete's family after the family sued over his death.

The athlete died on August 31, 2020, during a wrestling workout. According to the complaint, the deceased had a known medical condition that necessitated extra water breaks, and wrestling instructors neglected and harassed him as his mental and physical state deteriorated due to overexertion in the heat.

The family will be compensated in excess of $14 million, and the institution will launch a heat-illness training program.

According to a UC press statement, the family's initiative to raise awareness of heat-related ailments will also be encouraged.

The complaint alleges coaches pushed athletes into "punishment drill" to dash up and down a steep slope it nicknamed "punishment hill" many times after one of the wrestlers failed to finish a fundraising assignment. According to the lawsuit, the athlete was forced to sit down due to weariness before one of the coaches threatened to throw him from the squad, and he then completed another circuit before declaring, "I can't do this anymore."

According to the lawsuit, the athlete then returned to the wrestling room, lay on a mat, and pleaded for water before instructors shouted at athletes who tried to help him, telling him he needed to "fetch the water himself."

According to the lawsuit, the coaches ignored his deteriorating condition and booted him out of the wrestling facility rather than providing him with care. According to the lawsuit, the athlete was discovered dead outside of a campus construction fence with his fists clinched in the grass and mud "after a frantic and irregular quest for assistance and water."

According to the announcement, the institution believes it could have successfully disputed the accusations in court. But, they said that the legal procedure would have been lengthy and costly, culminating in a trial "with an unknown conclusion" several years from now.