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University of the Cumberlands and family of student who died of heatstroke reach settlement

Grant Brace died of heatstroke hours after finishing wrestling practice in 2020. The family said coaches at the school ignored his distress and symptoms.

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. — The University of the Cumberlands announced Wednesday that the school reached a settlement with the family of Grant Brace after the family sued over Brace's death.

Brace died on Aug. 31, 2020, after wrestling practice. The lawsuit alleged Brace had a known medical condition that required more hydration breaks, and that wrestling coaches ignored his distress and harassed him as his mental and physical condition worsened due to overexertion in the heat.

The family will be paid more than $14 million and the university will also start a heat-illness training project. The family's work to raise awareness of heat-related injuries will also be promoted, according to a release from UC.

The lawsuit claims coaches forced athletes into "punishment practice" to sprint up and down a steep hill it called "punishment hill" several times after one of the wrestlers failed to complete a fundraising assignment.

The lawsuit said Brace had to sit down out of exhaustion before one of the coaches threatened to kick him off the team, and Brace then ran another circuit before saying, "I can't do this anymore."

The complaint alleged Grant then returned to the wrestling room, laid on a mat and begged for water before coaches yelled at athletes who tried to help him, saying the coaches told him he needed to "get the water himself."

The lawsuit said the coaches continued to ignore his deteriorating condition and kicked him out of the wrestling facility, instead of giving him care. The complaint said Brace was later found dead outside of a construction fence on campus with his hands clenched in the grass and dirt "after a desperate and erratic search for assistance and water." 

According to the release, the university it believed it could have defended the claims in the lawiit. However, they said the legal process would have been long and costly, ending several years from now in a trail "with an uncertain outcome."

Jerry Jackson, the chancellor of the university, also released a statement about the settlement. It is available below.

“Grant was a talented, well-liked young man entering his junior year with a bright future ahead of him. Our University community continues to mourn his untimely loss. We sincerely hope that resolving this matter early in the legal process will offer the Brace family a measure of peace and healing.”

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