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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 8:43 a.m., Tuesday, April 14, 2009

CFB: Documents show Missouri missteps in player's death

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Legal documents obtained by The Associated Press show University of Missouri officials failed to follow policies for medical emergencies when freshman linebacker Aaron O'Neal collapsed and later died during a 2005 summer workout.

The university agreed in March to pay $2 million to O'Neal's parents to settle a lawsuit. But the sworn testimony of several key university employees who supervised the workout show a series of missteps.

Athletic department employees also showed an unfamiliarity with potential exercise-induced complications caused by sickle cell trait. O'Neal carried the inherited blood disorder that affects an estimated 8 to 10 percent of African-Americans.