Football Injury Victim Awarded $7.5M Settlement

According to a CNN article, Preston Pleverets, a former student at LaSalle University, received a $7.5 million settlement because of  the severe brain injuries he suffered.

Back in 2005 the young football player took a hard hit during a game against Duquesne University. He was knocked to the ground.

He then woke up for several minutes, crashed and fell into a deep coma.

Pleverets had emergency surgery to relieve swelling after the incident.

Shanin Spector, Plevretes’ attorney, stated that the young man’s reaction to the hit was a, “signature presentation of a second impact syndrome.”

He continued to state that, “a brain already contused from a prior concussion…swells very, very rapidly.”

Spector was referring to a prior hit taken by the young football player. In an October practice, Plevretes took a helmet to helmet hit with another player.

He stopped practicing and complained of a severe headache.

Plevretes’ family believed the second impact during the game caused the severe brain injuries to their son and claimed this was the reason they filed the lawsuit.

The family further stated the coaches knew about the first impact, but continued to let their son play football.

LaSalle University maintained they followed the rules and stated the cause of the injury was solely due to the impact at the Duquesne University game.

Even though they settled the lawsuit, the University did not accept negligence, The Associated Press reported.

The parents also filed lawsuits against a few of the other team’s players who were involved in the hit, but they later dropped the lawsuits.

Due to the second impact, Pleveretes suffered from speech loss, short term memory loss and can only walk short distances with aid.

He now types with a keyboard as his main method of communication.

Brain injuries are a common occurrence in contact sports. Many football associations have been reviewing their medical practices and researching traumatic brain injuries in hope to decrease the number of brain injuries for athletes.

One main factor these associations are trying to determine is time and how much an athlete needs to recover before he or she is allowed back into the game.

Spector stated the family realizes, “that what occurred is a rare circumstance, but one that is preventable through proper medical attention after a concussion.”