DELAND, Fla. – An appeals court reversed a prior decision on Dec. 30, saying Stetson University may have been liable in the death of a student athlete, according to new court documents.
In August 2017, 19-year-old Stetson University football player Nicholas Blakely died after collapsing during practice shortly after telling a trainer he wasn’t feeling well.
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According to court records, Blakely had told the head football athletic trainer that he had a bad cough, chest congestion and shallow breathing.
The records say the trainer took Blakely’s temperature — which tested negative for a fever — and believed Blakely had a cold. However, the trainer did not refer Blakely to the student health clinic, instead allowing him to continue participating in the planned activities, records show.
Blakely later pulled himself out of practice on complaints that he was feeling dizzy and his chest felt tight, and a trainer took him to the sideline, giving him treatment before having him rest on the sideline, documents reveal. Less than an hour later, Blakely collapsed and was taken to the hospital, where he ultimately died, according to documents.
Michelle Wilson, Blakely’s mother, told News 6 that she would like to see a change in the way universities treat their student athletes.
“I myself would like to see the culture change,” Wilson said. “I would like to see EKGs done at the school... I don’t want another mother to go through what I went through.”
Court documents also show that Blakely had complained of similar chest pains earlier in the year, though the trainer didn’t do anything with that information.
“If an athlete, a student athlete, 19-year-old young man complains of chest pain in a practice, then that should be an automatic red flag to send them to a doctor to get evaluated,” said Lance Reins, the attorney for Blakely’s family.
Afterward, court records show Blakely’s family brought a lawsuit against the university, seeking damages.
Due to a liability waiver signed by Blakely, a trial court granted summary judgement to the university, the appeals court opinion states.
However, the opinion also says that the language used in the waiver did not expressly inform Blakely that he would be contracting away his right to sue Stetson for Stetson’s own potential negligence.
“The court has decided ultimately that the way that it was worded wasn’t clear, and it was very confusing for him to know what he was giving up,” Reins told News 6.
The opinion states that the waiver could have been understood to mean that Blakely was agreeing to allow the university to take culpability in the event that Blakely brought such injuries to other players.
On the other hand, the appeals court also said that Blakely’s family had not yet met the threshold to claim punitive damages from Stetson University, adding that the Florida Supreme Court requires the following:
As such, while some of the evidence used has supported the family’s allegations, there is not yet enough to warrant punitive damages, the court argues.
“Michelle has waited a long time to have her day back in court, and this was kind of a detour,” Reins said. “And now we’re back on the road again, and the road has always been the same goal, and that’s to get justice for Nick and to make sure, hopefully, this doesn’t happen to any young men.”
The case is set to return to a trial court for consideration.
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