All five Tufts lacrosse players have been released from the hospital after being diagnosed with the life-threatening muscle disease, rhabdomyolysis, after participating in a Navy SEAL-type drill during practice.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Tufts confirmed that the five students who were previously hospitalized have been released. “We are happy to share with you that all members of the men’s lacrosse team who were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) have been discharged,” the statement began.
“We want to express how grateful we are that the team members are back in good health. We commend the team’s resilience, admire how they looked after each other in difficult times, and thank their families for their unwavering support,” the statement said.
Elsewhere in the statement, Tufts said it had hired an expert to look into the incident. “Moving forward, we need to come to a clear understanding of what happened and make sure it never happens again. To that end, we hired D. Rod Walters II, a nationally recognized expert in student-athlete injury care and prevention,” the university said.
Tufts University Men’s Lacrosse Team.
Larry French/NCAA photos via Getty
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Tufts said it has also hired legal counsel to thoroughly investigate what happened, and that it will “conduct a thorough and independent investigation to determine exactly what happened before, during and after practice; evaluate the university’s response; evaluate our conditioning and training protocols; and review our procedures and policies to determine what changes we need to make to prevent this from happening again.”
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After a team practice on Monday, Sept. 16, 12 members of the university’s men’s lacrosse team were diagnosed with rhabdo and five were hospitalized, university spokesman Patrick Collins confirmed to PEOPLE at the time.
Collins said the voluntary, supervised 45-minute training session was led by a Tufts student who also has a degree in Navy SEAL training. The university said about 50 team members participated in the drill.
12 Tufts University lacrosse players diagnosed with life-threatening muscle disorder after practice
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rhabdo is a potentially life-threatening medical condition that occurs “when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood,” often due to heat or overuse.
The condition can be treated, usually with IV injections to flush the protein out of the patient’s system, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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Source: HIS Education