Part 1 of 2.....
Gentlemen:
If you never thought of getting insurance to cover you for unexpected legal action perhaps this story may convince you. Your respective chapter or state association most likely has insurance purhcased on your behalf (as ours does) but I happily pay my ~$90 to join NASO every year. I posted this tragic story last August of how a South Jersey football player was paralyzed in a scrimmage.
This just shows no matter all the good you do (as the opposing coach did here) you can still get slapped in the face. My entire chapter donated one of our weekly paychecks to this individual which raised several thousand dollars. I still haven't heard whether the officials have been named as defendants in this possible lawsuit. I read a post myself on a fans forum that was put out by this coach asking for donations to help this kid. I read articles of how many times he and his wife went to the hospital to help this kid and his family and comfort them.
Exactly how the heck could this possibly be the opposing coaches fault? Or anyone else's for that matter?
I'm going to cut this in half becuase you're limited to how many characters can show up in a post.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/app...WS01/704290374
Legal action shocks Samaritans
By CHUCK GORMLEY
Courier-Post Staff
As president of Eastern Regional High School's football booster club, Jack Geisel was videotaping the Vikings' scrimmage game against Woodrow Wilson High School on Aug. 25, 2006, when Shykem Lawrence, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound safety for Woodrow Wilson, lowered his helmet and drove it into the thigh of a 5-foot-11, 245-pound running back from Eastern.
Geisel watched in horror as the athletic trainers from both schools, Dorrell Morrison of Woodrow Wilson and Casey Christy of Eastern, tried administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Lawrence, who had fractured the C-3 region of his spine and was lying motionless on his back.
"It could have been two or three minutes, but I knew he had stopped breathing," said Geisel, 45, a special-needs teacher who coached football at Camden Catholic, Cherry Hill West and Gateway Regional high schools. "Those guys worked their butts off to save that boy on the field. Now the coaches have to go through a big lawsuit like this. It leaves me speechless."
The threat of a $10 million lawsuit has unleashed a torrent of emotions for many of the people who have worked tirelessly to aid Lawrence and his family. While they remain committed to helping the 18-year-old Lawrence with his devastating ordeal, they are shocked to see Eastern High School football coach Dan Spittal, in particular, and some others named as possible defendants in the case.
"It is hard for me to understand why Dan has to worry about this lawsuit after all he has done out of the goodness of his heart for Shykem and his family," Kathie Spittal said of her husband.
Shykem's mother, Nita Lawrence, was contacted five times by the Courier-Post for this story, but declined comment. Her family's lawyer, Ronald R. Gilbert of Fenton, Mich., said last week that the litigation is "on hold," pending further investigation.
In a notice of claim dated March 20, the football coaches, principals and superintendents at Woodrow Wilson and Eastern high schools were among 18 people named in a $10 million claim filed under the New Jersey Municipal Tort Claims Act. The notice of claim alleges Lawrence was provided with inadequate or improper coaching, along with other transgressions that would be "uncovered through discovery."
A notice of claim preserves the claimant's right to file a lawsuit later against governmental agencies.
Spittal and Luther Howard, the head coach at Woodrow Wilson, are among those named in the court filing. Howard, who is in his first year as head coach at Woodrow Wilson, has been requested by the Camden Board of Education to provide documentation of tackling drills. Both coaches have refused to go on record with their feelings over the potential lawsuit.
Kathie Spittal as well as Jack and Jackie Geisel have agreed to share their accounts of that fateful August night, the outpouring of support the Lawrence family received from the South Jersey football community over the next eight months, and their disappointment in seeing the Lawrence family pursue legal action against both schools, and Dan Spittal in particular.
Continued.....