Readers of this South Carolina personal injury blog may recall our May 18 blog post, in which we discussed the collapse and death of a college student who was walking onto the University of Mississippi football team. The man's parents later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the university and several of its employees, including trainers and coaches, claiming that they did not tell the man that he had sickle-cell trait and failed to accommodate his condition during practice. The lawsuit is currently on hold after the judge presiding over the case issued a stay on Feb. 2 to deal with certain procedural questions.

The man, 20, took part in an early-morning offseason workout with his Ole Miss teammates on Feb. 19, 2010. Shortly after the workout, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors there found him feverish and hypothermic. While at the hospital, the student went into cardiac arrest and died.

According to the lawsuit, the death was the result of the man's sickle-cell trait. The man did not know he had the condition, which affects about one out of 12 African Americans, but medical staff at Ole Miss allegedly knew he had tested positive about three weeks before he died. That information was never passed on, the plaintiffs say. In addition, the coaching staff failed to take the player's condition into account and protect him from an increased risk of death due to strenuous exercise.

The stay that the judge issued is meant to give him time to rule on several legal questions, including whether some of the defendants may be dismissed from the case.

Source: The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, "Judge grants stay in wrongful death suit of Ole Miss football player," Errol Castens, Feb. 3, 2012