The family of a rugby league player who died following a match on the NSW North Coast in 2016 has launched a three-pronged civil action in the Supreme Court claiming that the tragedy could have been averted had it not been for the negligence of league officials and first responders.
Grant Cook was playing for the Murwillumbah Mustangs in a semi-final against Casino when he suffered a hypoxic brain injury after his head hit the ground following a contentious tackle.
The 28-year-old father of two children aged five and three at the time died shortly afterwards at Gold Coast University Hospital.
A subsequent inquest found that crucial questions which would have established that Cook suffered a trauma-related cardiac arrest were not asked by ambulance dispatchers. As a result, a helicopter rescue service was not deployed.
The Country Rugby League (CRL), which was the governing body at the time of the incident, was wound up just as the inquest’s findings were being delivered in October 2019.
The surviving members of Cook’s family – widow Colleen, their children Carter and Mia, and Grant’s parents, Geoff and Jean – have taken legal action against three parties: CRL insurers Lloyd’s of London and Chubb insurance; NSW Ambulance; and Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League.
Grant Cook with wife Colleen and children Carter and Mia.Credit: Facebook
This masthead has obtained the statement of claim filed by Gerard Malouf & Partners, the legal firm acting on behalf of Geoff and Jean Cook (a separate firm is acting for Colleen and her children). It claimed the CRL was negligent due to:
- A failure to enact policies and procedures for the education and training of officials presiding over games in relation to head injuries;
- A failure to adopt the NRL’s head-injury guidelines;
- Allowing the game to proceed despite the Murwillumbah Mustangs trainer not having up-to-date qualifications;
- Failing to recognise that Cook suffered a head injury that required his immediate removal from the game and appropriate medical assessment and treatment;
- Failure to have suitably trained and equipped medical officers to oversee the event.
The claim is also critical of the emergency service response on the scene, alleging a series of errors, including the “inappropriate” insertion of a chest cannula.
“Our claim is that negligence ultimately led to Grant’s death,” Grant’s father, Geoff, told this masthead.
Grant and Colleen Cook.Credit: Facebook
“There were things that happened that, in a perfect world, would not have happened, and he could have possibly had a chance of survival.
“It’s a bigger issue than Grant Cook, rugby league and this particular incident. It’s concussion and how it should be treated, not just at the elite level of sport but at community level as well, and what policies there need to be.
“That’s what I was trying to advocate at the time [of the inquest] and unfortunately, I didn’t get a strong enough stance from the coroner.”
The Lystedt Law in the United States and Rowan’s Law in Canada, which require immediate removal of players suspected to have suffered concussion at every level of sport, have been enacted in those regions.
As well as providing for his son’s family, Geoff Cook hopes the legal action could result in a similar outcome – possibly known as “Grant’s Law” – in Australia.
“NSW Ambulance extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the patient who tragically passed away,” a spokesperson said. “It would not be appropriate for NSW Ambulance to comment on anticipated or current legal proceedings.”
Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League declined to comment.
“It is fine for the NRL to have its sophisticated medical support for a few hundred elite players,” Geoff Cook said.
“What we must also have are protections for the millions that play community sport every weekend and for school children in sport.
“At present there is no funding available from the sporting bodies to compensate players when an incident occurs.”
Geoff Cook said the death of his son was still taking a huge financial and emotional toll on the family.
“We come to birthdays and Father’s Day, and they are days of sorrow and remembrance as well,” he said.
“Jean and I take a big responsibility in doing what Grant can’t do. The children spend a lot of time living with us. A bit more support from the CRL or NRL as well would have been lovely to ease those burdens.”
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