Years after his death shocked the NFL, the Korey Stringer Institute's heat research is changing policies for athlete safety
Korey Stringer's death at training camp for the Vikings in 2001 rocked our Minnesota, the NFL and the nation.
His shocking death eventually changed the NFL. But his family has never stopped working to protect others.
Through a decade of litigation in the wake of Korey Stringer's death, heat expert Doug Casa was by Kelci Stringer's side.
"It has to be the highest profile heat stroke at least in America, maybe in the world," said Casa.
Kelci Stringer said that she, along with Casa, continued to submit information on how his death was preventable. While it took several long years, she persisted.
"I think they saw, 'hey this wasn't about fighting them.' It was 'hey, change this, you don't want this on your hands,'" she said.
In 2010, with support from the NFL, they launched the Korey Stringer Institute so that other athletes and families would never have to go through the same pain.
Now, the institute is considered a leader in heat research, and its impact on athletes, laborers and the military. They provide research, education and advocacy that is changing the game.
"We've changed 466 state policies or laws so far," said Casa. "Everything related to emergencies in sports, so cardiac heat stroke, head injuries, anything that could prevent a death from happening in high school sport."
It's work that Casa dedicated his career to after his own experience: He suffered a heat stroke when he was 16 years old while running a 10K race on the track in Buffalo, New York, during a heat wave.
The institute investigates all the deaths that happen in middle school, high school, college and professional sports.
Their research has uncovered some telling trends.
"We have found out since 1995 every single heat stroke death in high school football has been a lineman," said Casa. "They can't be doing the same training as a safety or receiver because they heat up so much faster."
Casa says football is the sport they pay attention to most. Cross Country can also be dangerous.
"Almost all of our deaths that we see in sport are in the southeast because of the humidity," he said.
Not only do they know who heat stroke impacts, but they've pinpointed the timing.
"We have found almost all the deaths happen in the first 3-4 days and that's because one their fitness is not as good and their heat acclimatization is not as good," Casa said.
The knowledge they've uncovered has helped form safe training protocols, and they're sharing the simple but effective treatment that can save lives.
"Exertional heat stroke has been 100% survivable if someone's temp gets under 104 within 30 mins of presentation," he said.
Casa added that the cool first, transport second protocol is just like using an AED for a cardiac event.
"Any time you hear of a death you'll know from this moment forward that person was not cooled aggressively," he said.
After 15 years of work at the Korey Stringer Institute, Kelci Stringer knows their work has made a lasting change.
"It started with the NFL and then it trickled down," she said. "I saw that with my son's little league football there were little small changes."
It's work that she never chose, but dedicated herself to fully. Korey Stringer was "always a fighter for the underdog," she said, and he would have been proud of her work.