COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -The University of Missouri has reached a settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a former reserve linebacker who collapsed on the field during a 2005 preseason workout.
A Boone County judge still must approve the undisclosed settlement, referred to in court records filed this week in the lawsuit over the death of Aaron O’Neal.
James Bartimus, a lawyer for O’Neal’s mother, Deborah O’Neal, said he could not discuss the details until the court approves the agreement. A hearing is set for later this month.
“This obviously has been a tragic time in her life,” Bartimus said. “Fortunately we were able to bring the litigation to an end and get some degree of closure. We’re looking forward to putting this behind us.”
earing. O’Neal’s parents have consistently declined comment since his death.
O’Neal was a 19-year-old redshirt freshman from suburban St. Louis who collapsed on the Memorial Stadium field during a voluntary workout in July 2005. He died less than two hours later.
The lawsuit alleged that school employees failed to take medical precautions required by O’Neal’s carrying of the sickle cell trait. The hereditary condition has been linked to heat stroke and exercise-induced collapse.
In the four seasons since his death, Missouri coaches and players rallied around their fallen teammate. They shouted his name after each practice. His game-day locker – never used – remained intact. And in 2008, seniors who entered school with O’Neal as freshmen took turns wearing his No. 25 during home games.
O’Neal, who was 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, started to struggle with conditioning drills about 45 minutes into the hourlong workout on July 12, 2005. Players wore shorts, T-shirts and cleats but no helmets or pads.
The former Boone County medical examiner cited viral meningitis as the cause of death. But the chairman of the university’s pathology department and several outside experts suggested the sickle cell trait contributed.
er muscles.
In 2007, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association recommended that college teams screen athletes for the inherited blood disorder, noting some trainers mistake the injury for heat exhaustion, muscle cramps or heart problems.
At least 10 athletes have died under such circumstances in the past eight years, ranging in age from 12 to 19, according to a study from the association. The study also notes the deaths of 13 college football players at schools that did not test for sickle cell trait or had “a lapse in precautions.”
The O’Neal family lawsuit accused Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, athletic director Mike Alden, team medical director Rex Sharp and 11 trainers and strength coaches of failing to recognize signs of medical distress they say could have prevented O’Neal’s death.
Pinkel and Alden were scheduled to testify under oath later this month in legal depositions.
The medical examiner’s report said that once O’Neal slumped to the ground after the workout’s final drill, Sharp told a concerned strength coach, “There was nothing that could be done.” While O’Neal was eventually taken to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, a strength coach first took him to the football team’s office in a university pickup truck he and another player had to flag down.
rules prohibit head coaches and their assistants from attending such workouts, which are led by strength and conditioning coaches and monitored by trainers.
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