Report: No blame in football accident
Deirdre Newman
COSTA MESA -- A long-awaited report investigating the death of a
popular Costa Mesa High School football player clears the school staff of
any fault.
Colby died after a game against Ocean View High School on Sept. 28. An
autopsy found that his death was caused from brain swelling due to
repeated blunt-force trauma to the head.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Robert Barbot said the
district will review the report, released Friday, and see if there’s any
improvements that can be made in district policy to prevent another
fatality in the future.
“We’re going to go to our athletic people and see if there is any fine
tuning that we should be doing,” Barbot said. “[Matt] was one of our
students that we cherish, and we want to make sure he’s respected in the
process.”
The investigation, prepared by Alvarez and Associates, found that
Coach David Perkins, his coaching staff, trainer Steve Moreno, team
physician Dr. Peter Kim, and the administration and faculty at the school
and the district were not to blame for Colby’s death. Perkins was not
available for comment.
What’s not in the report is any direct information from the Colby
family physician, Dr. Nazli Ahmed. That information was not made
available to investigators by Matt Colby’s mother, Kelli Colby, who also
denied a request to talk to investigators.
The investigation found that Colby did not mention any concussion
symptoms until a week after they happened. Sept. 21 -- after a game
against Centennial High School -- was the first time Colby mentioned to
his trainer, Steve Moreno, that he had a headache, nausea and pressure
behind the eyes and in the sinus cavity after a Sept. 15 game against
Westminster High School.
Moreno was concerned about Colby’s symptoms and the length of time
that had elapsed before they were reported, so he sent a note home to
Colby’s mother, the report states.
Kelli Colby set up a doctor’s appointment with Ahmed for the following
Tuesday.
Ahmed was out of town and unavailable for comment, but the report
states that the release she gave to Colby said: “Matt can practice this
week, but no head hitting. Can play on Friday, but not full game.”
The Costa Mesa athletic staff followed those directions, according to
the report. Although Colby was not involved in contact drills, he was
training to play for a new defensive lineup in which he would be an
outside linebacker rather than his regular position as an inside
linebacker.
For running plays, this position involves stepping down and giving the
runner a small frame of attack, according to the report: “This position
would have been from the shoulder pad to the knee level, in a hitting
position to take on blockers, with his shoulder pad and legs and not his
helmet.”
But videotapes from the Sept. 28 game show that Colby dove headfirst
into an opposing player several ties and seemed slow to get up.
Before the Ocean View game Sept. 28, Perkins still had concerns about
Colby playing, even though the player claimed he was not experiencing any
more symptoms, also according to the report.
“Therefore, Coach Perkins asked his son AJ and several other close
friends of Matt how Matt was ‘really’ feeling. AJ and Matt’s other
friends all told Coach Perkins that Matt was fine and feels good,” the
report states.
The report details a series of events from the Sept. 28 game:
Colby also played on the kickoff team and was involved in a tackle on
the game’s first play, but not a “spectacular collision.”
Colby then played in some of the defensive plays but again was not
involved in “any unusual tackles.”
During a subsequent Costa Mesa kickoff, Colby had another contact with
an opponent blocker.
On Ocean View’s second offensive play after that, Colby contained the
player while another player tried to block him. He managed to avoid the
tackle.
But soon after that play, Colby walked off the field. Moreno
approached him and noticed his hands were convulsing. The trainer took
Colby’s helmet off and had him sit on the training table on the
sidelines.
As Colby was trying to explain his symptoms to Moreno, his level of
consciousness deteriorated to unconsciousness and the convulsions
worsened.
Moreno called 911 after Colby lost consciousness, and Ocean View’s
doctor also rushed to the sidelines. Because there was no emergency
medical equipment on the field, they could only wait until the paramedic
unit arrived.
Several minutes after the 911 call, the paramedics arrived at the
field. As Colby was being taken to UCI Medical Center, his heartbeat and
breathing stopped. An emergency medical technician in the ambulance
revived him as it arrived at the trauma center, but a CT scan test found
that he was brain dead.
The Colby family decided to take him off life support systems Saturday
morning.
Barbot said it would probably take a few weeks for his staff to look
over the report but stressed he was open to making changes to protect the
safety of his students.
“We’re going to do this in the spirit of trying to be better, dealing
with students and their lives and, of course, if there’s anything we can
do better, we will,” Barbot said.
* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)
574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .
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