Coaches are responsible

In the three seasons Rashidi Wheeler played football at Northwestern, he had over 30 asthmatic attacks. On Aug. 3 he had his last when he collapsed and died from bronchial asthma during a conditioning drill. On Aug. 23 Linda Will, Wheeler's mom, filed a lawsuit against Northwestern University, head football coach Randy Walker and other athletic department personnel. According to the lawsuit, Will is holding Northwestern responsible in her son's death. Northwestern was not properly prepared to deal with Wheeler's condition, even after all the attacks Wheeler suffered in his career. There was no ambulance or oxygen on the scene that day to respond to Wheeler's attack, and an on-field phone wasn't working. There were too few experienced trainers on hand, and the staff, who initially believed Wheeler was suffering from heatstroke or hyperventilation, provided him a bag to breathe into -- not the thing to do for someone experiencing an asthma attack. With all of these factors playing a role in Wheeler's death, Will did the right thing by holding Northwestern and the athletic department staff responsible for the death of her son. There is no reasonable excuse for the coaching and training staff to suspect that Wheeler was not experiencing an asthma attack. If someone is allergic to bee stings, you constantly keep medication around to prevent harm if a sting occurs. This is no different. Reports that Wheeler failed to take his medication the day of his death come into play only because the staff should have had a spare inhaler on hand for someone who suffers from such chronic asthma attacks. It is not the responsibility of the staff to baby-sit each of the football players at Northwestern, but it is their responsibility to be ready in the case of an emergency -- especially a foreseeable one. Another accusation against the Northwestern staff is that the staff waited over 40 minutes to call an ambulance. This demonstrated bad judgment on their part, plain and simple. If a player were to break his leg, would you wait over 40 minutes to send him to the hospital? It is the responsibility of the coaching and training staff to know each of their players' medical conditions as well as their abilities to run, catch and tackle. Obviously Northwestern forgot that with Rashidi Wheeler. The last and final insult to Wheeler's family was the fact that Northwestern continued the same drills that took Wheeler's life while he was lying lifeless on the ground with paramedics performing CPR. That alone shows the negligence that was associated with his death. Because Northwestern was doing grueling running drills, and Wheeler had forgotten or chosen not to take his medicine were all factors that led to his death. Northwestern coaches and training staff proved ignorant to their starting safety's condition, which kept them from saving his life. That holds them accountable for his death, giving his mother the right to name them in the lawsuit and hopefully find answers. Staff vote: 13 - 2 - 0
yes - no- abstain