Jurors to be chosen in what’s known as “the concussion case”; NCAA is defendant
About 125 prospective jurors are expected to arrive at the Washington County Courthouse this morning for a civil trial of a case brought by a former California University of Pennsylvania linebacker who asserts his neurological problems stem from his playing days.
For several years, President Judge Katherine B. Emery and Judge Michael Lucas have been hearing pretrial proceedings in a lawsuit filed in 2013 by Matthew Onyshko and his wife, Jessica.
The couple sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association, claiming the organization failed to adequately supervise, regulate or minimize for student athletes the risk of long-term brain injury from repeated blows.
Onyshko, now 38, was a starter at Cal U., playing college football from 1999 through 2003.
He claims he suffered numerous blows to the head, and that on three occasions, he lost consciousness for at least 30 seconds.
After graduating, Onyshko experienced weakness in one of his hands, and was diagnosed in 2008 with symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, abbreviated as ALS and often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Four years later, Onyshko began to question if his symptoms might be related to his time playing football.
Onyshko’s physical problems escalated to frequent headaches, twitching, muscle atrophy, fatigue, loss of mobility, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, weakness and other neurological symptoms.
Onyshko’s attorney, Jason Luckasevic, a Charleroi native and Washington & Jefferson College graduate, said his client, a former Pittsburgh firefighter, now relies on a wheelchair.
The complaint alleges that the NCAA was aware of the long-term impact of concussions but did not warn players.
The association maintains that there is no link between Onyshko’s medical problems and his college football career.
Luckasevic expects to call as a witness Dr. Bennet Omalu, who began researching brain injury when he performed an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steeler “Iron Mike” Webster.
Omalu, a forensic pathologist and neuropathologist, discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is caused by repeated blows to the head.
“This is not a CTE case,” said NCAA attorney Arthur Hankin during a pretrial proceeding. A CTE diagnosis is made after examining microscopic tissue samples of a brain dissected during an autopsy.
Onyshko and his wife are the parents of two young daughters. The family had to modify their home to accommodate his physical limitations.
The trial at which Lucas will preside is expected to last three weeks.