Tahoma Schools Settle With Teen in Football-Injury Case
Money won't change the fact that 16-year-old Zackery Lystedt may never walk again, could need assistance for the rest of his life and is permanently disabled by injuries that were preventable. Zackery's injuries while playing in a football game for Tahoma Junior High School three years ago led to the passage earlier this year of the nation's most rigorous law protecting young athletes from severe brain injuries. The law requires clearance from a licensed medical professional, which includes certified athletic trainers, before a student-athlete who has sustained a concussion can return to the playing field.
Attorneys for Zackery's family and the school district said they could not disclose the amount of the settlement because both sides had signed a confidentiality agreement. However, the appellate courts have ruled that public entities, such as school districts, must disclose the amount of settlements. A spokesman for the Tahoma School District said the district would respond to a written public-disclosure request seeking the amount of the settlement, which The Times has filed.
Zackery was injured while playing football Oct. 12, 2006, when he suffered a concussion toward the end of the first half of a game. He was twice returned to play and 60 seconds after the game was over, he collapsed. Doctors later would discover he had suffered a traumatic brain injury and he was hemorrhaging. Zackery was in a coma for months and required intensive therapy before he was able to eat on his own or speak. Even now, he remains in a wheelchair. [The Seattle Times]
