One member of the Saint Xavier cross country team, he found out just how scary a health emergency can be while running. During a July 22, 2017 cross country practice, former runner Cooper Marchal suffered a heat stroke that caused him to lose consciousness. As a result, he was hospitalized and “put in a medically-induced coma.” Now, he’s decided to file a lawsuit against his former high school, alleging it was negligent in the practice that resulted in his heat stroke and hospitalization.
For many student athletes running cross country, competitions are a time to bond with teammates and test their body’s limits as they compete for the lead. Few runners think about things like suffering heat stroke or other health emergencies. Unfortunately for one member of the Saint Xavier cross country team, he found out just how scary a health emergency can be while running. During a July 22, 2017 cross country practice, former runner Cooper Marchal suffered a heat stroke that caused him to lose consciousness. As a result, he was hospitalized and “put in a medically-induced coma.” Now, he’s decided to file a lawsuit against his former high school, alleging it was negligent in the practice that resulted in his heat stroke and hospitalization.
The suit was filed last week in Jefferson Circuit Court and Marchal is represented by attorney Nina Couch of Taylor Couch PLLC in Louisville. According to the suit, Marchal claims the school “failed to adequately supervise, screen, test, monitor, and treat the student runners for heat-related injuries and illness and was negligent in hiring, training, educating, and supervising its coaches and coaching staff.”
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During the practice on July 22, 2017, Marchal took part in a practice that included a “12-mile run.” It’s important to note, however, that Louisville was “under a heat advisory at the time and the heat index the previous day had been 107 degrees.” It is because of this that the former runner claims his school was negligent. Specifically, the suit says the “school is responsible for the negligence of employees Charles Medley, cross country head coach, and Andrew Meirose, assistant head coach.” However, his two former coaches are not named in the suit as defendants.
In a statement regarding the lawsuit, Couch’s firm said:
“The lawsuit involves allegations of carelessness on the part of St. X in having its student-athletes run 12 miles during a cross-country practice on one of the hottest days of last year without taking adequate precautions…Cooper wants what happened to him to never happen to another student-athlete and looks forward to his day in court.”
At the moment Marchal’s suit is seeking “compensation for past and future medical costs, pain and suffering, emotional and mental distress, lost wages, future earnings and loss of enjoyment of life.” So far officials for the school have yet to comment on the lawsuit, though it should be noted that the lawsuit only represents one side of the story.
Sources:
Lawsuit: School negligent in cross country runner’s heat stroke
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