Parents of Brandon football player who died after collapsing at practice sue Rankin County School District
The parents of Brandon football player Phillip "Trey" Laster, who died from a cardiac arrhythmia after collapsing during practice in 2022, have filed a lawsuit against the Rankin County School District.
Laster's parents, Phillip and Ashanta Laster, filed the lawsuit on Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. It names Rankin County School District, which oversee Brandon High School, as the sole defendant.
The Laster family has hired civil rights and catastrophic personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump.
Trey Laster, 17, died after collapsing during an afternoon football practice on Aug. 1, 2022. Cardiac arrhythmia was the cause of death for Laster, according to the Rankin County coroner's report obtained by the Clarion-Ledger.
“No child should ever be in danger of losing their life in pursuit of a passion, especially under the supervision and instruction of adults who should know when to stop pushing these young athletes,”Crump said in a news release. “Trey’s tragic death could have been, and should have been, prevented by those in charge, and shows a troubling lack of adherence to guidelines surrounding heat exhaustion prevention.”
Laster's death occurred during the hottest part of the day. According to the complaint, as soon as the 17-year-old arrived to participate in his first football practice of the season, his coaches immediately began making him do wind sprints.
While he was running, Laster began exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion that included stumbling and becoming dizzy and nauseous, the complaint says. Ultimately, as detailed in the complaint, Laster vomited and then passed out due to the extreme conditions and his coaches’ failure to properly adjust the training to the environment and his high-risk factors.
According to the complaint, because it was the first day of practice, the football players had not gone through a two-week acclimatization to the heat. Laster, a 6-foot-1, 328-pound lineman, was at higher risk for heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
When Trey passed out, the complaint says, the school did not have any exertional heat stroke (EHS) preventive measures on the field and did not begin implementing any common EHS prevention procedures. Instead, the complaint says, school district employees placed Laster in the back of a pickup truck, which only increased his body heat. According to the complaint, inadequate heat prevention and response led to Laster passing away shortly thereafter.
"Just days before Trey’s death, the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) and the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), of which the Rankin County School District is a member, provided numerous warnings of EHS, identified the risks to lower the chances of EHS, and provided specific instructions on the type of EHS preventive measures that are best to be present at each practice and sporting event," according to the complaint.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion-Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Brandon football player death: Trey Laster's parents file lawsuit
