Adults and coaching staff failed to immediately attend to Arizona State hockey player Matthew Mayich after the athlete collapsed due to heat stroke during an intense outdoor workout last month, his lawyer claims.
Mayich, 21, was allegedly left on the ground for several minutes after collapsing on August 20, attorney Robert Carey claimed to Us on Friday, September 4. The litigator further alleged that Mayich was not immediately rushed to a cooling station or placed in an ice bath once he was removed from the track.
The workout was led by a former Green Beret, lasted for nearly an hour and featured sprints, planks, push-ups and bear crawls.
Carey is “confident” Mayich did not receive any water throughout the entire session, he exclusively told Us on Thursday, September 3.
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Arizona State Police received a call at approximately 8:30 a.m. on August 20, alerting them to Mayich’s collapse. The athlete remains hospitalized with “zero chance of recovery,” Carey has said.
“You have to have common sense,” Carey told Us. “You have to have reasonable care and protect these student-athletes. That’s their number one charge, to make sure the student-athletes are safe. It’s obvious when you go out into the outdoor temperatures, even if it’s at 8 a.m., it’s going to be hot. When you’re crawling around on the ground, it just makes you hotter. It just raises your body temperature.”
The attorney continued, “This was a distinct, identifiable risk. We’ll have to see what they were doing about it. Did they have an action plan if somebody got heat stroke? Did they have permission to be out there? Did they have a plan on how the workout would go to protect for hydration and rest? I don’t know.”
In a statement to Us on Thursday, a spokesperson for Arizona State called the workout “a team event at which coaches and training staff were present along with a third party who had previously worked with the ASU Hockey team.”
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“ASU has institutional guidelines and requirements relating to the engagement of outside entities who interact with ASU student-athletes and sport programs,” the statement continued. “Sun Devil Athletics also has heat-illness guidelines in place; these guidelines are informed by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. SDA student-athletes regularly practice and train outside, under coach and trainer supervision.”
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The Arizona State police department launched a formal investigation into the facts related to Mayich’s collapse this week.
“I’m glad it’s happening,” Carey said of the case. “I hope they follow police protocols relating to tracking down all the evidence, using subpoenas or warrants, if necessary, that they get unfettered access to the university systems for digital information.”
Mayich had recently transferred to Arizona State after playing his freshman season at Clarkson University. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.