Assistant Trainer Says Warning Signs Preceded Football Player's Brain Injury

San Diego, CAIn September 2007, Scotty Eveland, a senior at California's Mission Hills High School, suffered a massive brain injury that left him in a mostly vegetative state after he collapsed during a high school football game, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Although the San Marcos Unified School District had previously stated that there were no prior indications that Eveland had health problems before the incident, a former student assistant trainer has reportedly come forward with information that could expose the district in a cover-up scheme, according to the news source.

Court documents indicate a deposition in which Breanna Bingen said that Eveland had twice complained to athletic trainer Scott Gommel of headaches in the week before he collapsed, causing him to skip portions of two practices.

Bingen, who said she was an assistant trainer at the time, claimed that Eveland asked Gommel to sit out at least the first quarter of the game because his head was hurting and he could not see the football.

After Coach Chris Hauser allegedly unleashed an expletive-laden tirade on Gommel telling him that he would put his player in the game if he wanted to, Eveland reportedly started the game and collapsed approximately 45 minutes later.