Brian Kelly on Greg Brooks' negligence lawsuit: 'It doesn't change how we feel about Greg"
BATON ROUGE — News broke last week of a lawsuit recently filed by former LSU football player Greg Brooks, accusing Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, the school, the football program, head football coach Brian Kelly and other coaches and athletic trainers for negligence pertaining to his medical issues stemming from brain surgery.
The dispute, filed in East Baton Rouge Parish court dated in August, accuses the LSU coaching staff, athletic trainers of misdiagnosing him prior to his emergency surgery last September at Our Lady of the Lake. In the filing, Brooks claims that the surgery, performed by Brandon Gaynor, has left him "permanently disabled" and he contends with "catastrophic neurological injuries" that include not being able to walk, lack of function in his right hand and "considerable difficulty speaking."
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Per the documents, it states Brooks, the former LSU senior captain, "will likely need care for the rest of his life for the injuries he sustained as a result of his providers' malpractice" detailing that he suffered multiple during surgery. Yahoo Sports reports that medical review is addressing those alleged acts filed by Brooks' family.
Speaking with media for his weekly press conference Monday afternoon ahead of No. 8 LSU's SEC matchup at Arkansas this weekend, Kelly told reporters that his feeling towards Brooks have not changed and won't because of the lawsuit.
"It's well-known and we've talked about the love that we have, our entire team, for Greg Brooks," Kelly said. "A leader, beloved by his teammates and we'll continue to have that. Unfortunately, lawsuits come out in our culture and in our society every day. It is what it is. But it doesn't change the way we feel about Greg.
"Our support is going to be there. We hope and pray for only the best for him. But when it comes to lawsuits, our kids, players, coaches, we just really focus on Greg and hope and pray that he's the guy we focus on. And we try to stay away anything that has legal ramifications."
The LSU football coaching staff is accused of threatening Brooks' starting position within LSU's defense if he chose not to practice while experiencing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and dizziness all the while team trainers refused to recommend him to a neurological specialist, the documents say.
Brooks played in the Florida State season opener as well as the Grambling State games for the Tigers before getting an MRI, which discovered a "pediatric brain tumor." LSU athletic trainers ordered the scan for Brooks 39 days after he initially exhibited symptoms.
Brooks' lawsuit also names LSU head coach Brian Kelly, former safeties coach Kerry Cooks, former defensive coordinator Matt House as well as LSU head athletic trainer Owen Stanley and team doctors Vincent Shaw and Stephen Etherdge.
East Baton Rouge Parish Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts is scheduled to preside over a hearing on Feb. 10.
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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What LSU football coach Brian Kelly said about the Greg Brooks lawsuit
