Cheer-Lead at your own Risk
Cheer-leading is by its very nature a risky activity. Cheer-leading is invariably sponsored by some individuals or group in a middle school, high school, or college.
However sponsorship and supervision are two very different endeavors. Please keep the distinction between these two terms in mind as you read a distraught father's account of how his daughter was paralyzed from the neck down during a cheer-leading practice that happened way back in January of 2004
The parents of a Prairie View A&M University cheerleader paralyzed
last week during practice are questioning whether the students were
properly supervised.
"I am furious. Something went terribly wrong with my daughter,"
Bobby Norwood said Monday night in a telephone interview from
Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital, where Bethany Leona Norwood is
in recovery after surgery this weekend.
Bobby Norwood said one of his daughter's teammates told him they
were practicing without a coach or an adviser when the accident
happened Wednesday night. Norwood said he has been in contact with
the adviser, who he said explained the accident.
"We have no animosity for the cheerleaders that were involved. We
pray for them because they feel terrible," Norwood said. "They were
unsupervised."
These cheerleaders, presumably mature University Students, chose to assemble and practice in the absence of a supervisor. It is not like these young adults were middle school kids who should definitely be supervised. We don't know to what extent the cheer-leading sponsors at Prairie View A&M are at fault for the tragic accident. I would be shocked if the sponsors did not have a list of regulations that are to be adhered to during all practices.
Even if a supervisor had been at the practice, an accident still could have occurred and it sounds to me like Bobby Norwood was trying to get help with the medical bills to treat his paraplegic daughter. His daughter chose to engage in an activity that can lead to injuries.
I am sorry Mr. Norwood's daughter had a life-changing injury, but it is not the Universities' fault.
I read that Bethany is finishing her education with the help of her dedicated mother Marva. Please read the article by Mark Babineck for much more depth and breadth on the inspirational story of this courageous young woman.
However sponsorship and supervision are two very different endeavors. Please keep the distinction between these two terms in mind as you read a distraught father's account of how his daughter was paralyzed from the neck down during a cheer-leading practice that happened way back in January of 2004
The parents of a Prairie View A&M University cheerleader paralyzed
last week during practice are questioning whether the students were
properly supervised.
"I am furious. Something went terribly wrong with my daughter,"
Bobby Norwood said Monday night in a telephone interview from
Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital, where Bethany Leona Norwood is
in recovery after surgery this weekend.
Bobby Norwood said one of his daughter's teammates told him they
were practicing without a coach or an adviser when the accident
happened Wednesday night. Norwood said he has been in contact with
the adviser, who he said explained the accident.
"We have no animosity for the cheerleaders that were involved. We
pray for them because they feel terrible," Norwood said. "They were
unsupervised."
These cheerleaders, presumably mature University Students, chose to assemble and practice in the absence of a supervisor. It is not like these young adults were middle school kids who should definitely be supervised. We don't know to what extent the cheer-leading sponsors at Prairie View A&M are at fault for the tragic accident. I would be shocked if the sponsors did not have a list of regulations that are to be adhered to during all practices.
Even if a supervisor had been at the practice, an accident still could have occurred and it sounds to me like Bobby Norwood was trying to get help with the medical bills to treat his paraplegic daughter. His daughter chose to engage in an activity that can lead to injuries.
I am sorry Mr. Norwood's daughter had a life-changing injury, but it is not the Universities' fault.
I read that Bethany is finishing her education with the help of her dedicated mother Marva. Please read the article by Mark Babineck for much more depth and breadth on the inspirational story of this courageous young woman.
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