AUSTIN – Two Lake Travis High School football players are accused of purposefully exposing a teammate with severe allergies to a food that could potentially kill him.
KTBC Fox 7 in Austin reported last month that Lake Travis ISD confirmed that students coated the teammate’s belongings in peanut products in October, but would not detail how the students were disciplined.
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The student’s mother spoke to CBS Austin last week and said, as far as she’s aware, the students were only benched for two games.
“They might as well have loaded a gun and put it to his head because this is a fatal thing for my child,” Shawna Mannon told CBS Austin.
Mannon said her son’s teammates asked him about several scenarios and whether peanut exposure could kill him.
Her son told them, “Yes, it absolutely could kill me,” she said.
After that conversation, Mannon said the teammates flicked peanuts at him and put peanut products in his locker, his cleats and on his uniform. Her son broke out in hives almost immediately. His mom said if the products had even touched his face, he could have gone into anaphylactic shock.
“They put this kid in a situation beyond his control, where he was exposed to something that could’ve killed him, and it was done deliberately and maliciously, so that needs to be called out for what it is – attempted murder. At the very least, this is bullying,” Dr. Allen Lieberman, an allergist with a specialty in food allergies with children at Austin Family Allergy & Asthma told CBS Austin.
Mannon and other parents have spoken out at a school board meeting. They are outraged and think the act deserves more serious punishment, including criminal charges.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office told CBS Austin that there is currently no pending criminal case. Mannon said police told her that the students’ actions did not fit the state’s definition of bullying.
Lake Travis is a perennial powerhouse in Texas high school football with six state championship titles. The team had an 11-3 record this season.