Another Siegel football player was injured. WGNS' Ron Jordan has the details...
Siegel High freshmen Kevin Ross Jr. said that he felt extreme pain and was left alone after the practice. The injury occurred during a play when the 15 year old was said to be tackled while playing as a receiver on Monday. Ross normally plays as a defensive end or a running back.
His grandmother picked him up after the practice at Siegel and reports indicate the parent of another player had to carry him to his grandmother's car as he could not walk.
Ross' hip was actually out of socket and he had a fracture. He was transported to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville after his grandmother took him to St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital in Murfreesboro. At Vanderbilt, he had to undergo surgery to repair the hip.
Rutherford County Schools Spokesperson James Evans stated in an email:
- Rutherford County Schools has a contract with NHC, TOA and MTSU to provide athletic trainers for our high schools. Brad Rohling supervises those trainers. The trainer at Siegel is an independent contractor, which is not uncommon, and is not an employee of Rutherford County Schools. He has a master's degree, is nationally certified and is state licensed.
- The athletic trainer reports that he followed all procedures in this situation and made multiple attempts to contact family members but no one answered or returned his messages. An athletic training student from MTSU was on hand, as well, and witnessed the trainer's attempts to contact the family. We also have screenshots showing where he made multiple call attempts from multiple phones in an attempt to reach the family.
- The athletic trainer did an initial evaluation of the student on the field, and then did a more thorough evaluation and treatment in the field house. During the last contact he had with the student, the student reported that his ride was almost there, and the student said the athletic trainer could go to his next game, the trainer says. There were coaches still in the field house at this time. The athletic trainer advised the student that his family needed to seek additional medical treatment if his level of pain persisted. Trainers cannot dispense over-the-counter medication without approval from parents because students are minors.
- The trainers are there to help prevent and assist with injuries but they are not full doctors and don't have the resources of a hospital to make a diagnosis. The trainer reports he did not believe it was an emergency situation based on the information he had at the time.
