High School Football Player Who Sustained Catastrophic Brain Injury Settles Precedent-Setting Law Suit with School District.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1998--

Victim of "Second Impact Syndrome" Nearly Died During a 1993

Game; Mother Will Now Educate Schools On How to Better

Protect Athletes From Her Son's Fate

Editor's note: To view the full video news release, visit

http://www.newstream.com/98-410.shtml

The Anacortes School District and Seattle attorney Michael Nelson have agreed this week on a resolution that provides lifetime care for Brandon Schultz, who sustained a catastrophic brain injury during a high school football game on Oct. 25, 1993.

As the result of his brain injury, Schultz cannot live independently and will never socially integrate into society.

"This agreement will provide funding that allows Brandon to receive, through his settlement trust, the medical care and rehabilitation he will require for the rest of his life," says Nelson. Forensic experts have estimated the cost of Brandon's lifetime care to be approximately $12.6 million.

The actual amount of the settlement was ordered confidential pursuant to the wishes of the family and school district.

Nelson filed suit against the school district in 1996 for failing to institute reasonable policies and procedures for head injury management. He says coaches were not properly trained and athletes with head injuries were not required to get a doctor's note before returning to action.

Before filing suit, Nelson researched other catastrophic brain injuries involving athletes. He determined that Schultz' brain injury was a classic case of Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), a rare, usually fatal condition which can occur when a second concussion is sustained before a person has healed from a first.

"Brandon suffered a concussion during a game just one week prior to his tragic episode," says Nelson. "He briefly lost consciousness, complained of headaches the week following the injury, and yet no school official referred him to a doctor. Had Brandon been required to see a doctor -- what should always be a standard requirement when an athlete suffers a concussion with ongoing symptoms -- we believe his SIS brain injury would never have occurred."

Schultz collapsed and fell into a coma shortly after making a seemingly harmless tackle. He was airlifted to the trauma center at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where doctors performed emergency surgery to relieve swelling in his brain. Schultz would endure three more brain surgeries before leaving Harborview almost one month later. He was then transferred to Children's Orthopedic Hospital, where he received intensive care for another 39 days.

Schultz' mother, Lane Phelan, says the family received no advisories from the school about her son's condition during the week prior to Brandon's tragedy. "One of the coaches asked my husband if Brandon had seen a doctor after his concussion the week before. We were surprised -- no one instructed us that a physician should clear Brandon to play. To us it was just a headache. We had no reason to believe it was anything more than that."

Schultz, now 21, currently resides at the Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS) in Bakersfield, Calif., where he was admitted in January 1997. He continues to suffer severe physical, cognitive and psychological problems, and requires care that only an advanced rehabilitational facility like CNS can provide. He is also haunted by the memory of the young man he used to be.

"I still think of myself as that same guy," says Schultz. "But I'm not. And I know I'm not."

SIS can occur when the brain, if already compromised from a concussion that has not adequately healed, receives another blow. The blow does not have to be violent or direct -- even a minor blow to the body which causes the head to jerk suddenly can trigger the syndrome. At the onset of SIS, blood vessels may tear, causing one or more blood clots to form and the brain to swell. The swelling applies pressure to the brain stem, which regulates breathing. Shortly thereafter, respiratory failure begins, and the athlete collapses with rapidly dilating pupils and loss of eye movement.

The usual time from second impact to brain stem failure is rapid -- normally two to five minutes. Death often occurs shortly thereafter. Schultz' survival of his SIS ordeal is considered extraordinary.

"Sports-related injuries are not just a problem for professionals," says Dr. Stan Herring, team doctor of the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks and a consultant to Nelson on the Schultz case. "Rates of injury are actually the highest in children, adolescents and young adults. And the younger the athlete, the higher the risk for SIS."

Certainly, SIS is rare -- only 17 documented cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1992 and 1995 -- but Herring believes many more cases go unreported because of a lack of awareness in the medical community and among the coaches who work with young people every day.

"Brandon's case is a glaring example of how SIS is still an unknown medical condition," says Herring. "He was a young athlete who was still clearly symptomatic of a concussion," says Herring, "and yet his coaches sent him back on the football field."

Herring and other medical professionals believe there is a dire need to better educate coaches, school officials and parents about the dangers of concussion. As part of the settlement agreement, the Anacortes School District has voluntarily agreed to help underwrite a speaking tour for Lane Phelan, Brandon's mother, to do just that.

"Our goal and the entire reason for this speaking tour is to prevent similar and worse tragedies from happening in the future," says Phelan. "Our message is that concussions must always be treated seriously, because the consequences are truly a matter of life and death."

Protecting the rights of individuals, particularly those who have suffered traumatic brain and spinal injuries, is Michael Nelson's forte. As a brain injury survivor himself, Nelson brings a unique empathy and perspective to these cases. Nelson has practiced law in the Seattle area for more than 20 years. His firm, Nelson Tyler Langer, is rapidly gaining regard as a formidable advocate for the seriously injured. For more information, visit http://www.firmani.com/sis.htm

NOTE TO EDITORS: =============== Satellite feed 10-10:30 a.m. (eastern time) Oct. 28, set in rotation. Coordinates: C-BAND:TELSTAR 4(C)/TRANSPONDER 23/ AUDIO 6.2 & 6.8 TRT: 2:56:12 B-ROLL TRT approx. 4:00:00