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Former LSU football player Greg Brooks Jr. is accusing the school of negligence after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent life-changing surgery.
Brooks Jr. filed a lawsuit in August 2024 alleging negligence against LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where he underwent brain surgery.
"I just want young athletes in the same spot I was, if something is hurting, tell them," Brooks Jr. told GMA on Monday (February 3). "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."
Brooks, who was named team captain, said he began experiencing symptoms, including nausea, dizziness, and headaches, during football practice in August 2023.
According to his lawsuit, Brooks "passed out" during practice and "then began to vomit minutes later in front of his coaches and athletic trainers." However, an LSU athletic trainer allegedly told Brooks he had vertigo and he was "cleared to return to practice."
Brooks alleged that he continued to report his symptoms on a "daily basis," but the team took 39 days to make an appointment with a neurologist who discovered the brain tumor.
Brooks' father said he wasn't notified of his son's condition until he was set to undergo brain surgery.
"The one call that I received was, 'I need you to get here. Your son is having emergency surgery tomorrow morning,'" Brooks Sr. said on Monday's episode of GMA. "He's at LSU, one of the best colleges in the United States. Would I have ever thought that his best interests wouldn't be at heart? No."
The lawsuit also alleges that Brooks Jr.'s doctor at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center was "not qualified to do this particular surgery."
According to the suit, Brooks suffered "multiple strokes" during the surgery, which left him with "severe and permanent injuries."
Since the surgery, Brooks has undergone chemotherapy and radiation and has been declared cancer-free. The former LSU player has had to relearn how to eat, write, and speak following the surgery.
"The disease is not the issue," Brooks Sr. said of his son's cancer diagnosis. "He did wonderful with his radiation, with his chemo. This is the aftermath of injury from surgery."
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