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A Texas coach’s punishment sent 20 teenagers to the hospital with severe injuries and illness in San Angelo.<\/p>\n
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Twelve families are suing Texas Leadership Charter Academy in San Angelo after a coach’s punishment<\/a> sent 20 teenagers to the hospital with severe injuries and illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the court filing, the families are suing the school for systemic child abuse, gross negligence and a coordinated institutional cover-up of an incident where coaches forced dozens of high school students<\/a> as young as 14 to perform hundreds of push-ups over an hour without water or rest back in February. The school’s board president, director of compliance, principal, assistant principal and five coaches are named in the suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The push-up punishment resulted from two students being assigned the same jersey number by mistake. While the mistake was the coaches’ fault, dozens of students were forced to endure the push-up punishment as the coaches, including the athletic director, mocked them for being weak and demanded they continue after several had collapsed and cried for help. The students were subjected to the punishment for over three days.\u00a0<\/p>\n “When children begged to stop, the coaches blew whistles and demanded more. The gymnasium doors were closed. The children were trapped. And not one adult in that building lifted a finger to help them,” according to court documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over 20 students were hospitalized after the punishment, many diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis<\/a>, a rare condition where muscles break down after excessive exercise without rest. The illness can cause kidney failure, since the organ is overwhelmed with filtering toxic byproducts from muscle death, often due to insufficient hydration.<\/p>\n One student’s laboratory enzyme levels were nearly 750 times the upper limit of normal, and several children required referrals for permanent kidney damage. Many continue to undergo medical treatment, including physical therapy and recovery from the lasting physical and emotional effects.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n