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A few days before he died, Grant Brace expressed concern about returning to his college wrestling program in Kentucky. He told his mother, Jacqueline, that his coaches teased him when he asked for water, according to James Moncus, a family attorney.
Brace promised his mother he would leave the team if he felt unsafe, Moncus said. And when coaches at the University of the Cumberlands prohibited Brace from drinking water during the first practice of the 2020 season, he ultimately walked out, a lawsuit claimed. But minutes later,the 20-year-old collapsed anddied of anexertional heat stroke, according to the lawsuit, which was filed by the family in Whitley County, Ky., in 2021.
Recently, the university in Williamsburg, Ky., agreed to settle the lawsuit with Brace’s family by paying out more than $14 million. The family’s attorneys argued that Brace’s death was avoidable if university administrators, coaches and trainers had responsibly performed their duties.
“They would literally make fun of him for drinking water,” Moncus told The Washington Post. “They probably thought it was funny to withhold water that day.”
A University of the Cumberlands spokesman said in a statement that the two wrestling coaches involved in the matter had resigned.
“Grant was a talented, well-liked young man entering his junior year with a bright future ahead of him,” Chancellor Jerry Jackson added in a statement. “Our University community continues to mourn his untimely loss. We sincerely hope that resolving this matter early in the legal process will offer the Brace family a measure of peace and healing.”
Growing up in Louisville, Tenn., Brace began wrestling when he was about 5 years old and dreamed about wrestling professionally, Moncus said.
Before college, Brace had been diagnosed with narcolepsy and ADHD and took medication that required him to drink more water than most of his peers, the lawsuit said. When the University of the Cumberlands admitted Brace around August 2018, administrators and coaches at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school guaranteed he would receive accommodations, the lawsuit alleged.
But when Brace arrived, wrestling coaches often said that “water is for the weak” and didn’t meet Brace’s hydration needs, the lawsuit said. When Brace requested water breaks, coaches warned he would be punished and often asked, “Do you think you are special and are allowed more water?” the lawsuit states. Sometimes, a coach placed a water bottle over his crotch while spraying water into Brace’s mouth, the lawsuit said.
“The Coaching Defendants created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in University Defendants’ wrestling program through emotional manipulation, emotional abuse, and physical abuse of student-athletes,” the lawsuit stated.
Before Brace’s first practice of his junior year, on Aug. 31, 2020, a teammate failed to find 20 volunteers — the requested amount — for team fundraising, Moncus said. As punishment, coaches forced wrestlers to run up and down a steep hill seven times, the lawsuit alleged. Temperatures that day were in the mid-80s, according to Moncus.
After multiple cycles, Brace vomited and took a seat, feeling exhausted, Moncus said. A coach told Brace he was being kicked off the team, but as he left, teammates encouraged him to return, Moncus said. Brace continued to run up and down the hill until he said, “I’m done. I can’t do this anymore,” according to the lawsuit.
Brace returned to the school’s wrestling room and begged for water while lying on a mat, the lawsuit said. Coaches yelled at teammates who tried to provide Brace with water, the lawsuit stated. Brace said he felt his pupils shaking and thought his head was going to explode, as he pleaded, “I feel like I am going to die,” the lawsuit alleged.
Brace then started talking nonsense, saying that he was going to leave in a parade and that he ate a fork, the lawsuit said. He yelled and cursed before charging and tackling a teammate, it said, and coaches demanded that he leave.
After exiting the building, Brace tried to find water. He located a water fountain that was nonfunctional and couldn’t enter another building, the lawsuit said. Moments later, Brace collapsed about 250 yards from the wrestling room and was later declared dead, Moncus said.
Research has found that heat strokes are preventable if someone who is overheated is able to cool down in enough time. According to a study by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, an average of 2.4 people died annually from exertional heatstroke between 2017 and 2021, including Maryland football player Jordan McNair in June 2018.
In negotiations with the university, Brace’s family in February said they would agree to settle for $14,121,699. The final six numbers honored Brace’s Dec. 16, 1999, birthday, Moncus said. The parties agreed on the terms in late February before the university announced the settlement on Wednesday.
News Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/20/grant-brace-wrestler-lawsuit-settlement/
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