A Kentucky university announced a settlement of more than $14 million for the death of a student wrestler hours after practice. The university said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement for the death of junior Grant Brace, 20, of Louisville, Tennessee, includes an agreement for the university to engage in a heat-illness training program and to assist increase awareness of heat-related ailments.
He died during the wrestling team’s first training day of the season
Brace’s death on August 31, 2020, from heat stroke after pleading for water and being denied “was terrible and utterly avoidable,” according to news outlets citing the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, Brace was diagnosed with narcolepsy and ADHD and was prescribed Adderall, which requires maintaining hydrated.
He died during the wrestling team’s first training day of the season. During practice, the team had to sprint up and down a steep hill numerous times, and Brace completed several before collapsing from weariness. As the then-coach threatened to remove Brace from the wrestling team, he raced up the hill again and was later overheard shouting, “I’m done. “I can’t do it any longer,” the lawsuit stated.
The university said in a statement that it believed it could defend the claims asserted in the lawsuit
According to the claim, he asked for water and his health worsened, but the coaches did not offer it or alert the trainer or emergency medical services. Brace walked away and attempted to drink from a broken outdoor water fountain. He also tried to get into a building but could not, and he collapsed. About 45 minutes later, the coaches found him dead with his hands clenched in the grass and dirt, according to the suit.
The university said in a statement that it believed it could defend the claims asserted in the lawsuit, but the legal process would have been long and costly. “The University made the decision to settle the case now in a manner it hopes will respect the Brace family’s tremendous loss,” the statement said. It said the safety of students and athletes is a top priority and it “welcomes the opportunity to work with the Brace family’s consultant to ensure it is providing the safest environment possible for student-athletes in all sports.”