5/06/07 By Andrew Wolfson
awolfson@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
State settles boxer Page's suit for $1.2 million
The state has agreed to pay $1.2 million to former heavyweight fighter Greg Page to settle allegations that it failed to have proper safety measures in place at a fight in 2001 when he suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
The settlement signed this week also calls for new boxing regulations enacted last year to be called the “Greg Page Safety Initiative.”
And it says the state will work to establish a medical panel to advise the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Authority and review the conditions of boxers who might be at risk of injury.
Patricia Page, Greg’s guardian, said the settlement provides “a paltry sum considering what he’s lost.”
But she said they will be able to use the money to buy a handicapped equipped van and make her husband more comfortable.
She said he also was excited about the proposed safety reforms and that the amendments to Kentucky’s boxing rules will bear his name.
“He feels like he’s a martyr for a cause,” she said.
Page, the former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, slipped into a coma after the fight in Erlanger, then suffered a stroke during surgery.
He was left paralyzed on his left side and requires use a wheelchair. He was hospitalized twice last year and must be fed through a feeding tube, his wife said.
The suit filed by Page and his wife in 2002 alleged that the state athletic commission failed to meet their duty under the law to provide an ambulance or medical personnel with appropriate resuscitation equipment; a physician continuously present on site; and health insurance to cover Page for any fight injuries.
The suit named other defendants, but none of them had any assets, Patricia Page said.
She is a customer relations agent for Metropolitan Sewer District and said she and her husband live from paycheck to paycheck.
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Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.
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