A former Rolling Meadows High School football player who gained widespread sympathy and attention after he was paralyzed from the neck down during a 1999 practice has won a $12.5 million settlement in a lawsuit against the school district.
The tentative agreement, which is to be finalized next week by a Cook County circuit judge, is expected to provide Rob Komosa, 22, with an annuity to cover the cost of his round-the-clock care, according to people familiar with the case.
Komosa, who lives in a disabled-accessible house in Mt. Prospect, is a quadriplegic and must have help to meet his everyday needs. He breathes with the assistance of a ventilator and operates a wheelchair by blowing into a tube.
Attorneys for Komosa’s parents, Barbara and Stanley, and Arlington Heights-based School District 214 reached the agreement in the case after negotiations that started in December, the district’s attorney, Jay Judge, said Tuesday.
As part of the agreement, the district does not admit any liability in the case, Judge said. The district long contended it was not responsible for Komosa’s injury. The settlement will be covered by the district’s insurance.
District 214 Supt. Elizabeth Ennis said Tuesday that she was pleased the case was settled.
“All of us in the district were moved by the incident and were concerned for this young man who has suffered a great deal and whose life has forever changed,” she said.
“This settlement will not lessen his circumstances … but will certainly give him the monetary assistance he and his family will need to help him exist and hopefully find ways to become a productive person as well,” Ennis said.
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Circuit Judge Diane Joan Larsen signed off on the agreement last week.
Details still need to be worked out by Komosa’s attorney, Jeffrey Kroll, Judge said. Kroll and others at his law firm did not return several calls Tuesday.
Komosa was a 17-year-old junior running back on the Rolling Meadows team when he was injured Oct. 6, 1999.
He ran into an unpadded metal pole that was part of the left-field fence of the adjacent baseball field. He fractured two vertebrae in his neck.
Over the years, supporters have held countless fundraisers for Komosa.
The primary campaign, “Make Room for Rob,” raised more than $300,000, enabling the family to move into the specially equipped house in Mt. Prospect.
In the years since the accident, Komosa has participated in campaigns to help others with disabilities. In 2003 he helped launch a fundraising campaign to help Naperville quadriplegic Scott Signorelli get a wheelchair-accessible van.
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