The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services announced this week that it is investigating the events that led to multiple high school football players being hospitalized following a workout.
Several student-athletes at Rockwall-Heath High School were taken to the hospital following a Jan. 6 workout that many are calling excessive, according to a report.
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Dr. Osehotue Okojie, a mother to one of the players, realized something was wrong with her son when he began to show signs of rhabdomyolysis, the rapid and dangerous breakdown of muscle tissue, she said.
Child Protective Services is investigating how multiple Rockwall Heath football players were hospitalized following what parents call an “excessive punishment workout.” The head coach is on leave and the district is also investigating. @FOX4
? https://t.co/n43yKtdB9S pic.twitter.com/oFSVaI8O1G— Steven Dial (@StevenDialFox4) January 17, 2023
“He couldn’t lift his arms, brush his teeth. He could not lift his hands to wash his face. He had swelling in his muscles,” according to Okojie.
Her son began experiencing the symptoms following a workout three days earlier where he and his teammates were required to do around 400 pushups, she said.
The team was allegedly told to start over whenever one of them stopped, the report noted.
JUST IN: Rockwall-Heath’s varsity football coach, John Harrell, is now on administrative leave pending a third-party investigation after several students needed medical attention/hospitalization after an offseason workout last Friday.
This letter ?? was sent to parents today. pic.twitter.com/nL28qdGOZn
— Matt Howerton (@HowertonNews) January 10, 2023
“My son was admitted from Monday to Sunday. He just came home Sunday night,” Okojie said.
Around the same time that her son began experiencing his symptoms, Rockwall-Heath High School issued a statement that the football team’s head coach, John Harrell, had been placed on administrative leave.
Some players, including team captain Brady Luff, have come to Harrell’s defense.
“Our motto, it’s the number 16,” Luff said. “Sixteen ball games to win a championship. We do these workouts, and it’s all about discipline. If we get them right, we move on. If not, we do 16 pushups.”
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“He would never make us do a workout thinking it was gonna put any of us at risk.”
The school district has not released information regarding the exact number of pushups the students performed.
