Looking at the lawsuit participants

After suffering several concussions, former Central Arkansas wide receiver Derek Owens (7) began to struggle with his studies. He had previously excelled in the classroom, but he dropped out of school in 2011.
After suffering several concussions, former Central Arkansas wide receiver Derek Owens (7) began to struggle with his studies. He had previously excelled in the classroom, but he dropped out of school in 2011.

Ten head-injury lawsuits filed against the NCAA were consolidated into one federal class-action suit in Chicago, where a settlement was announced Tuesday. In all of the lawsuits combined, dozens of plaintiffs who said they suffered concussions playing contact sports in college are named. The following is a glance at some of their stories:

DEREK OWENS

The former University of Central Arkansas wide receiver excelled academically, but after several concussions he found he could no longer retain what he’d just studied. According to filings: “He would study for tests, but if he went to sleep he would forget what he had studied, so he started making himself stay up all night out of fear of failing [academically].” His symptoms became so debilitating that he dropped out of school in 2011, telling his mother, “I feel like a 22-year-old with Alzheimer’s.”

ANGEL PALACIOS

The former soccer player at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia suffered a concussion during practice when she and a teammate collided heads as they went for the ball. Days later when she said she didn’t feel well enough to practice, she said one coach reacted angrily and accused her of not “being a team player.” She began playing at the school in 2010 but left a year later because of head injury issues. She said she joined the lawsuit because “I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I went through. … The physical and emotional damages that I had to experience.” She is currently the University of Arkansas but no longer plays soccer.

STANLEY DOUGHTY

The former defensive tackle at South Carolina (2003-06) described how he returned to a 2004 game after a devastating hit left him momentarily paralyzed. He said he rested for five minutes in a locker room before going back into the game. After leaving school, the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent but then quickly let him go. According to court filings, they told him he had a serious spinal injury associated with helmet-to-helmet collisions.

ADRIAN ARRINGTON

The former strong safety at Eastern Illinois (2006-09) initiated the first lawsuit in 2011. Arrington said he suffered five concussions playing for EIU, some so severe that he couldn’t recognize his parents later in the day. In one deposition, he described bouts of depression, memory loss, seizures and migraine headaches that made it impossible to work or to adequately care for his three young children. He never would have played college football, he said, had he foreseen the health consequences.

KYLE SOLOMON

The former Maine ice hockey player suffered multiple concussions from 2008 to 2010. One happened during a nationally televised game in 2009, when he was slammed into the boards and blacked out, according to filings. After receiving seven stitches in the locker room, he returned to the game in the final period. Citing injuries, he left the team during his sophomore season. In a deposition, he said his symptoms included depression, crippling migraines, short-temperedness and what he described as an “inability to deal with everyday tasks.”

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