Risking it all to play: Towson football player battles medical, legal ... - Charleston Post Courier
Two summers ago, a college junior at Towson University nearly died of heat stroke while running sprints at the end of football practice. Gavin Class started to stumble at the end of the team’s second workout on a 90-degree day, The Baltimore Sun reported. When he collapsed, they put the 305-pound lineman in a tub of cold water and called 911. Paramedics took Class to a nearby hospital. He was transferred to Maryland Shock Trauma when his liver and kidneys started to fail and he suffered cardiac arrest. They placed Class on liver and kidney dialysis and soon performed a liver transplant. Class underwent 14 surgeries to treat pancreatitis, pneumonia, appendicitis, shingles, infections and a collapsed lung. Class cannot perform outdoor activities when the temperature exceeds 70 degrees, however. Class’s doctors at the University of Maryland claim he would be the first liver transplant patient to compete in a contact sport. Reportedly he was cleared to play football with protective abdominal padding and temperature monitors he would swallow each day. Last week, U. S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett ordered the school to allow Class to return “as a full participant in its football program. Source: www.postandcourier.com
