The parents of Aaron O’Neal, the Mizzou football player who died at practice last year, have filed a revised lawsuit. The newest lawsuit claims the team’s trainers and assistant coaches had a lack of knowledge about sickle cell which is believed to have to played a part in the death.
A preliminary examination identified viral meningitis as the official cause of death, but several other experts suggest that the sickle cell trait that O’Neal carried also played a role. The sickle cell trait is a blood disorder found in about eight to 10 percent of the U.S. black population. O’Neal’s parents claim in the lawsuit that the trait and extreme physical exhaustion caused some of his systems and organs to stop working.
Head football coach Gary Pinkel is named in the suit as a defendant, along with athletic director Mike Alden and 12 other team officials.
