Ryan Owens died in July 2006 after he collapsed after football practice. Ryan was attending Henderson County High School in Indiana at the time. His family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school and its coaches alleging they were the cause of 16 year old Ryan’s death.
The parents believe that the school should have done more to prevent the death of their son. The school, however, is saying that Ryan died of a heart defect and the activities at football practice would not have caused his death if he had not had the heart defect.
Each year there are reported deaths of high school and college athletes and often times they are football players. These football players are subjected to grueling practices in heat that often reaches over 100 degrees. It is time schools reevaluate the conditions these students are playing in. No sports program is more important than the safety, health and lives of these individuals.
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