MORGANTOWN — The parents of a student who required surgery after a game of unsupervised tackle football at Westwood Middle School are suing those they say are responsible.
Christina Drainer, a former Spanish teacher, Leonard Haney, the school’s former principal and the Monongalia County Board of Education are named as defendants in the suit, filed June 1 in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
Plaintiffs Tommy Baker and Jamie McElyea, parents of the now 15-year-old, ask for unspecified damages in the suit. The minor is a named plaintiff, however The Dominion Post does not typically identify minors involved in lawsuits.
The suit stated $249,223.08 has been spent to date on medical expenses as a result of the incident.
According to the suit:
About 9:20 a.m. June 3, 2016, Drainer’s class went outside and students played a game of tackle football without supervision or safety equipment. Drainer permitted the game despite the risk of injury.
During the game the student felt a “pop” in his right hip after being tackled by another student, causing immediate and severe pain. Drainer called McElyea and provided the injured student a wheelchair to sit in until his mother came to pick him up.
McElyea took her son to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a right displaced femoral neck fracture. The plaintiffs were told, “this is a serious injury [with] a very significant risk of AVN (Avascular Necrosis or Osteonecrosis),” a condition the student later developed.
The injured student underwent surgery about 4:30 p.m. the day of the injury. He received three screws in a procedure called a right femoral neck open reduction internal fixation with a right hip arthrotomy.
He also required a full hip replacement at age 15.
