- Max Matza
- BBC News
A Kentucky university has agreed to pay $14 million to the family of a wrestler who died of heatstroke after begging for water during training.
Grant Price, 20, died in August 2020 after running up and down a steep hill several times. His lawyers said the trainers refused to let him drink water.
It is alleged that two of the coaches named in the lawsuit created an “atmosphere of fear and intimidation” on the team.
The University of the Cumberlands said it hoped the agreement would lead to closure of the case.
But she asserted that she could have won a lawsuit had it moved to trial.
“We sincerely hope that the resolution of this matter early in the legal process will provide a measure of peace and healing for the Price family,” university chancellor Jerry Jackson said in a statement.
The lawsuit said Price, a native of Louisville, became “extremely disoriented” after a grueling workout in an area of campus known as “punishment hill.”
Price was diagnosed with ADHD and narcolepsy, which forced him to take medication that required proper hydration, especially during exercise.
Despite his medical needs, the suit said two of the coaches mocked him when he asked for a water break, saying: “Do you think you’re special and let you have more water?”
On the day of his death, Price completed several sprints and then “sat from exhaustion,” the suit says.
After being told he was being kicked off the team, he is said to have made an extra run to the top of the hill before stopping and saying, “I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Suffering from heatstroke, Grant begged, ‘I need water, someone help me,'” the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that he told people he felt like he was dying and was speaking in incomprehensible terms.
The suit said the coaches yelled at him after the team got back inside and fled the wrestling room. Grant searched for a water fountain, but collapsed and died before he could find it.
A university spokesperson said the university believes it could have won the lawsuit, “but the legal process will be long, difficult and expensive, ending years from now in a trial with an uncertain outcome.”
“The university has made the decision to settle the case now in a way that it hopes will respect the tremendous loss of the Price family,” he added.
The spokesperson added that the university will also participate in a heat disease awareness training program and help raise awareness of heat-related injuries.
