The family of a Virginia Union football player who died during a workout has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the school.
Freshman Quandarius Wilburn, 19, collapsed while doing conditioning drills at Hovey Field on Aug. 8, 2021. As reported by the Richmond Dispatch, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed July 13 in Richmond Circuit Court related to the incident.
The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Wilburn died of natural causes due to an “acute sickle cell crisis,” the newspaper reported.
Also read: ‘Heartbreaking loss’: Virginia Union football player dies after collapsing during workout
The lawsuit contends that Wilburn’s conditioning regimen should have been tailored to his medical condition considering coach Alvin Parker and the athletic training staff had been aware that Wilburn had a sickle cell trait.
Listed as defendants in the lawsuit are VUU; Parker, the Panthers’ coach; Felicia Johnson, then the school’s athletic director; Sean Ahonen, then the head athletic trainer for the football team; and Monterio Hand, then conditioning coach for the football team, the Richmond Dispatch reported.
The lawsuit stated that Wilburn was running sprints with little rest between sessions and “was pushed to the point of exhaustion, and inexcusably, beyond.”
Though Wilburn was taken to a local hospital for treatment after he collapsed, the lawsuit alleges that VUU officials failed to render assistance and aid in a timely manner.
“Wilburn’s death not only could have been prevented, it should have been prevented,” the lawsuit stated.
Virginia Union officials did not comment on the matter. A jury trial has been requested.
