• The Rockwall County Herald-Banner in Texas reported that Valencia Smith, mother of a former football player for Rockwall-Heath High School, filed a suit against the team's former coach, John Harrell, and 12 other coaches.
Smith's suit stems from an incident in January 2023, in which the coaches allegedly used excessive exercise as punishment for wearing the wrong uniform or failing to show enough "hustle."
Students were forced to perform more than 400 pushups within an hour, which led to at least 26 players being diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that causes muscle to break down and enter the bloodstream.
Smith said her son spent seven days in a hospital.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for his medical expenses. Harrell resigned in March 2023; he settled two other lawsuits, but this is the first that names the assistant coaches as defendants.
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