Ive read the article and you just have to stop and think how every single party in this tragic event must be feeling.  I could say I would never sue my gym, because I love them. But then I havent suffered the loss of a child and who knows what I would feel and how I would handle it.  I would hope that my family members and loved ones would encourage me to do the right thing and not sue for money, but maybe tougher regulations on cheerleading if i felt her safety was compromised.
I guess I feel bad for the mom because people are attacking her and I am sure she just feels empty and helpless.  I feel bad for the Gym and the coaches who probably feel at fault.
I would hope that people would be a little sensitive to both parties and not say rude things to either.  Let the court system handle it and learn from what has happened.  Show some compassion to both parties, because none of us know what we would do if we had this happen to our loved one.  We just have to pray it never does and appreciate the guidelines set by USASF and respect them.

With that said, USASF should constantly be looking at their saftey guidelines and making sure they are not compromising money for safety. For example adding more levels just to make more money for gyms. 

Anonymous wrote:

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If she was going to open a lawsuit why not do it when it happened? Why wait three years later? Something is fishy about that. She shouldn't be mourning her daughter's death three years later. Everyone loses loved ones it is called life. Sadly this was a girl who died young. I lost my brother when he was 7 due to a shooting. I was heart broken. I kept thinking of what I could of done to protect him. That if I did this or if I did that He would still be alive. 5 years down the road ya I still think about him and still cry when I remember the good times we had, but I still get up every morning and go to school. I still go to work in order to pay my bills. It is a choice to stay at home and let the grief suck you in. I don't expect her to never be sad or not take a sick day because she got a flash back of something her daughter did, but I do expect her to continue living her life.

I am not going to say this lawsuit is stupid and un needed because I don't know the facts. I don't know what the gym did or what exactly happened that day. I do know that in every sport there is going to be a chance of injury and even death.

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Wow, that's refreshing to hear someone say they don't know all of the facts before they go on to make comments based on heresay. I hope as cheer parents that we can be supportive of a mom who lost her only daughter. I wondered too why so long after. I can only think something new has been learned recently...but that is a guess, not facts or anything. RIP little Ashley

 

Grief is a peculiar thing. Some people feel the extent of it immediately and with others it continues to build. I don't think she should be judged on the basis of waiting 3 years to file suit. With such a tragic loss, sometimes it takes a while to function again, and the lawsuit was probably not the first thing on her mind. I'm not saying that she's right or wrong, or that the gym is right or wrong, or USASF or other parties named. Tragedies happen in lots of sports, sometimes preventable, sometimes not. Let the courts decide that.

Cheer is an extreme sport. No doubt about that. Everything a gym, coaches, and organizers can do to prevent injury should be done. Many kids just aren't ready for the level of skill they are throwing. If you have to hold your teams back a level so that they can safely execute all skills, then hold them back. I would hope that competition judges would note on scoresheets when a team is performing above-level, or trying to unsafely execute skills they don't have. I'm sure we've all been to a competition where a team is completely falling apart and injuries occur. Thankfully I've never witnessed anything too bad - mostly limb injuries, but it's interesting to see ambulances parked at competition facilities waiting. I know I'm not the only mom to see that. While it's comforting to know that emergency services are nearby and prepared, it also bothers me a little that my daughter is doing something potentially dangerous. If she didn't absolutely love it, and if I didn't feel we belong to a gym that exercises high safety standards, I'd have reservations about cheer all together.

My heart and prayers go out to her. I would never want to see this happen to another family.

Looking at another article....she injured herself around 430pm and did not arrive at the hospital until 600pm.  I know that seems like a long time to me especially if she is bleeding internally.  I also read that they took her to one hospital that could not help her, it almost seems that the emt's have more fault then the cheer gym, if the cheer gym called they could not control the emt's and what they did.  Also I read that her mom was not their but another family member was, maybe an aunt?

I wonder if this girl had any pre existing injuries, because that is a serious accident and could be prevented if we know what she had or what exactly happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again. This girl wasn't on East Elite, just at the gym when it occured with her high school. I find more of these cheerleading accidents occur with youth,school and collegiate teams versus all star teams.

Anonymous wrote:

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Looking at another article....she injured herself around 430pm and did not arrive at the hospital until 600pm. I know that seems like a long time to me especially if she is bleeding internally. I also read that they took her to one hospital that could not help her, it almost seems that the emt's have more fault then the cheer gym, if the cheer gym called they could not control the emt's and what they did. Also I read that her mom was not their but another family member was, maybe an aunt?

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From a recent article:

Three years ago, 14-year-old Ashley Burns of Medford, Mass., was practicing with her high school cheerleading squad when a high-flying stunt ended in her landing in the arms of her teammates on her stomach instead of on her back. Unbeknownst to her coaches and her teammates, the fall had ruptured her spleen. She soon fell ill, experienced convulsions and lost consciousness. "She was pronounced dead before I could even get there," said Ashley's mother, Ruth Burns, through the National Cheer Safety Foundation in a statement. "The coaches waited until Ashley was really sick, vomiting blood, to call the ambulance." She says she feels that if a proper emergency plan had been implemented and properly followed, her daughter might be alive today. "It was the hardest day ever," she said in the statement. "It gets harder instead of easier. She was my only child."

"I hope that this new study opens people's eyes and they stop making excuses." Kimberly Archie, executive director and founder of the National Cheer Safety Foundation, says that the fact that cheerleading is not regulated in the same way as high school and college sports creates a situation in which many injuries -- even catastrophic ones -- are never reported or recorded. And she adds that cheerleading organizations and companies involved in promoting the activity must be more involved in implementing safety standards. "We have to have the support of the cheerleading industry," she said. "Thus far, not one of the cheerleading organizations has volunteered to do anything with NCSF [the National Cheer Safety Foundation]." And while American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors has promoted revised safety standards in recent years, Archie says the measures have largely failed to encourage preparedness among those supervising the young athletes. "WHEN WE STUDIED THESE, INCLUDING THE CASES OF LAUREN CHANG [ANOTHER MASSACHUSETTS CHEERLEADER WHO DIED DURING A CHEERLEADING COMPETITION IN APRIL 2008] AND ASHLEY BURNS, WE FOUND A PATTERN OF DELAYED EMERGENCY RESPONSE," SHE SAYS. "THIS IS IN DIRECT RESPECT TO CHEERLEADING'S LACKADAISICAL RESPONSE TO CATASTROPHIC INJURIES."

Anonymous wrote:

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I wonder if this girl had any pre existing injuries, because that is a serious accident and could be prevented if we know what she had or what exactly happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again. This girl wasn't on East Elite, just at the gym when it occured with her high school. I find more of these cheerleading accidents occur with youth,school and collegiate teams versus all star teams.

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The were NO, NONE, ZERO pre-existing injuries. An article quotes her autopsy says - rutured spleen due to blunt force trauma. No other contributing factors.

 

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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They called 911 at 4:30, her injury was an hour prior. When the ambulance arrived they couldn't even get a blood pressure reading. So nice try in defending the gym without correct information.

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Wow. I just feel for this mother. I like my gym a lot, but I see them putting kids into advanced stunts with little or no training. I am feeling a little uncomfortable as I type this. I know of three kids this year who were told to toughen up and ended up being treated for broken bones. I know there is a fine line of working with kids who are making excuses, blocks or whatever, but kids can also be injured. Perhaps there is inadequate training on injuries and when to call for ambulances etc.

I don''t begrudge the woman for suing if that is what she feels she needs to do.

 

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 So then you understand, if a cheerleader had an internal injury and they treated her like the broken bone scenario than she would die before they got help. Hmmmm sounds like what the story is saying.

Seems to me that this mom is trying to find the truth and the only way to get is to get her day in court where people will be under oath.

 

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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I wonder if this girl had any pre existing injuries, because that is a serious accident and could be prevented if we know what she had or what exactly happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again. This girl wasn't on East Elite, just at the gym when it occured with her high school. I find more of these cheerleading accidents occur with youth,school and collegiate teams versus all star teams.

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The were NO, NONE, ZERO pre-existing injuries. An article quotes her autopsy says - rutured spleen due to blunt force trauma. No other contributing factors.

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It was a freak accident. I had a neighbor boy fell on his bike, went home and went to bed, died of the very same injuries. Ruptured spleen. Very sad.

 

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nice try again. She wasn't at home sleeping she was crying to her coach that she was hurting and they ignored her. A coach has a duty to provide emergency medical treatment after an injury.

Funny that you can understand that a ruptured spleen takes a while to bleed out so again why didn't they attend to her? Because they didn't think she was injured.

Wake up coaches, it is your responsibility to care for injuries. As all of the cheer people say accidents happen in all sports. Ok, then be ready!!!!!!!!