OSG High: LA HS Student Awarded $2.4M In Injury Settlement

((HT: FSWest))

A North Hollywood (CA) High student has been awarded a little over 2-million dollars in an arbitration hearing against the LA Unified School District.

NHHS senior Johnny Rider suffered a cervical spine fracture during a running backs drill in July of 2008. He and other students were not provided helmets or any other kind of protective gear as they were running into padded bags during the drill when the injury happened. Rider has admitted in interviews that he's lucky that he was not paralyzed, but he will need additional surgeries and treatments...

From the LA Times Eric Sondheimer:

"With youth and teens returning to school and engaging in competitive sports, we hope that Johnny Rider's case sends a strong message to schools, coaches and parents to make sure that protective gear is always worn," said lawyer Browne Greene in a statement.

“The LAUSD deeply regrets the severe injury suffered by this former student,” said LAUSD General Counsel David Holmquist in a statement. “With this ruling, we hope this settlement will bring some comfort to the injured student and his family.”

The LAUSD had, initially, offered Rider and his family only $200-300k in their settlement offers.

Here's how former UCLA Bruin Bobby Hosea is helping younger football players handle properly their tackling as they grow up out west...


The HQ hopes that this is another lesson for adults- coaches or otherwise...