A former high school football player has been awarded $7.1 million in a case related to his high school’s treatment of a concussion he sustained while playing.
A court has ruled that Rashaun Council (19) of Monte Vista, Cali., will never be able to drive or live by himself because of his on-field injury and the failure of his school’s coaching and medical staff to diagnose his condition.
“Because of the delay in diagnosis, the delay in treatments, he is forever going to be in the condition he is,” said Brian Gonzalez, the Council family’s attorney. “They continued to play him 'cause they wanted to win this game. That type of reality should never take the place of protecting our kids.”
The suit stems from a 2013 freshman football game at Monte Vista High School. Then 14-year-old Council started feeling sick and confused. A concerned teammate told the coach about Council’s strange behavior but Council remained on the field and finished the game.
According to a report from the San Diego NBC affiliate, Council was vomiting in the locker room after the game but coaches did not call 911 or follow proper concussion protocol. Council was taken to the hospital by his father where emergency surgery had to be performed to relieve swelling on Council’s brain. He was later placed in a medically induced coma.
It was later discovered that none of the freshman coaches at Monte Vista had completed state-mandated concussion training because of a loophole that allowed them two years to complete it.
