The former college football player urges other student-athletes to take matters into their own hands to ensure their safety. His father says LSU’s coach hasn’t called his son since his brain surgery.
A former football player for Louisiana State University (LSU), has decided to speak about his recovery from a brain tumor and why he is suing both his institution and the hospital that operated on him. In an exclusive sitdown interview with Michael Strahan on “GMA,” Gregory Brooks, Jr., and his father Gregory Brooks, Sr., spoke about the ordeal that started years ago at the university.
Brooks, Jr., was a safety for the LSU Tigers football team in August 2023 when he started to experience troubling symptoms. During football practices, he experienced nausea, dizziness and vomiting. After passing out and then vomiting in front of coaches and other players, he alleges that an LSU athletic trainer told him that he had vertigo and was cleared to practice.
According to Brooks, Jr, he experienced the same symptoms on a daily basis and after 39 days, the team made an appointment with a neurologist where he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and an emergency surgery had to be performed.
All of this is alleged in a lawsuit that Brooks, Jr. has filed claiming negligence against LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. According to Brooks, Jr., the surgeon who performed the surgery wasn’t qualified to do that particular surgery; Brooks, Jr. suffered multiple strokes during surgery and was left with permanent injuries post-surgery. Additionally, Brooks, Jr.’s father — Gregory Brooks, Sr. — alleges that the school didn’t inform him of his son’s condition until a day before he was scheduled to have the emergency procedure.
“The one call that I received was, ‘I need you to get here. Your son is having emergency surgery tomorrow morning,’” said Brooks, Sr., who was puzzled by this; he assumed that his son being at LSU meant he would receive the best care and consideration possible. Brooks, Jr. has since been declared cancer-free after rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment but had to relearn how to speak, write and eat.
Brooks, Sr. claims that the family hasn’t heard from the school or coaching staff since late 2023.
While LSU is unable to comment on pending litigation, they did release a statement when the lawsuit was filed in August 2024 that reads, in part: “While LSU cannot comment on ongoing litigation, Greg Brooks remains in our thoughts and prayers as he continues to work through the rehabilitation process.” The hospital also released a statement of support for Brooks, Jr. recovery and for their medical staff, while acknowledging they are unable to speak on pending litigation.
Brooks, Jr. has shared that he will deal with the cards that he’s dealt and ultimately wants young athletes going through something to understand that they need to advocate for themselves.
“I just want young athletes in the same spot I was, if something is hurting, tell them. And if they don’t do anything about it, go get your second opinion. Because if I would have known that, I wouldn’t be the way I am right now.”
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