Former Wharton LB awarded $2-million

The family of former Wharton linebacker Sean McNamee and the Hillsborough County School Board agreed Tuesday afternoon to a $2-million settlement — believed to be the largest in district history — involving a 2013 accident that left him in a medically-induced coma for nine days as doctors worked to repair damage to his brain.

The McNamees will receive $300,000 from the county, the largest they can receive due to a sovereign immunity law that protects the state. The family’s attorney, Steve Yerrid, will petition the state legislature for another $1.7-million, and as part of the settlement, the school board will support the claims bill.

Both parties had attended a court ordered mediation on Sept. 14 and agreed to a settlement value of $2-million, provided the school board voted in agreement.

McNamee, a 6-foot-2 junior at the time, was injured prior to a Wharton practice on Oct. 9, 2013. He was playing catch with teammates when he fell to the ground and struck his head on the corner of an unattended paint machine that had been used to line the field for that week’s game. Because practice hadn’t begun, McNamee was not wearing a helmet.

The injury fractured his skull, and a trainer who tended to McNamee called his mother Jody to come pick him up. Somehow, he was still able to slip away from school and drive himself four miles home.

McNamee was taken to the hospital where doctors had to perform emergency surgery and reduce swelling and remove blood from his brain. Doctors called in his family and told them to say their goodbyes because they were unsure he would survive. He was placed in a medically-induced coma for nine days before pulling through.

Also in the agreement, the county agreed to implement new guidelines, called “The McNamee Protocols,” in dealing with the proper training and instruction in how head injuries are handled, addressing the fact that despite the fact McNamee was looked at by a trainer, he managed to drive home and that EMS was not called.

The county school board also agreed to purchase liability insurance coverage with minimum limits of $1-million as part of the settlement.