In a press release sent out Tuesday morning, the Lanier Law Firm announced that “a wrongful death lawsuit [has been] filed today against University of Mississippi head football coach Houston Nutt, the NCAA, the University of Mississippi and other defendants based on their respective roles in the 2010 death of student-athlete Bennie (Buster) Abram.”
Those “other” defendants are the university’s board of trustees, Ole Miss athletic department medical director Dr. Jeffrey Dennis, strength and conditioning coach Don Decker, the UMAA Foundation (the Ole Miss athletic booster club), and Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, Miss.
Abram, a junior college transfer, was taking part in an agility drill Feb. 19 of last year when he fell ill and, after being rushed to the hospital, passed away a short time later. It was later determined that Abram’s death was due to complications from sickle-cell trait with exertion and a contributing factor of cardiomegaly, an inflammation of the heart.
According to the release, the lawsuit states that coaches, trainers and athletic department officials at Ole Miss violated NCAA guidelines covering the intensity of spring practices, particularly for players with the sickle-cell trait like Mr. Abram.
No comments:
Post a Comment