Fan who fell at Colonial Life Arena was denied access to original seat, lawyer says

Over two months after a fan who uses a wheelchair fell over a railing during a WNBA preseason game at South Carolina’s Colonial Life Arena , she and her family are still seeking answers from the university about why she was seated there in the first place.

The family of 27-year-old Kayla Cotten has retained a personal injury lawyer and is asking South Carolina to acknowledge a May 11 incident that took place during a Las Vegas Aces exhibition game against the Puerto Rican National Team at the Gamecocks’ home arena.

Columbia lawyer Melissa Mosier told The State that Cotten and a friend purchased general admission tickets to the game but, once they arrived, were instructed to move to the uppermost deck by arena staff despite Cotten asking if she could transfer from her wheelchair to their seats.

Arena staff declined that request, Mosier said, and moved Cotten and her friend to new seats. Cotten reached her new seat and fell over the railing about 15 minutes into the game, according to an arena incident report obtained by The State via records request. She was transported to a local hospital.

Cotten (who uses her wheelchair to conserve energy and is physically capable of walking) was hospitalized for five days following her fall and is still “under the care of a doctor” for a head injury, Mosier said.

No lawsuit has been filed. USC has declined to answer specific questions about the incident, offering general statements instead.

The Cottens hired Mosier of Columbia-based Joye Law Firm in June and sent a letter to the University of South Carolina and Colonial Life Arena on June 27 seeking acknowledgment of Kayla’s fall, Mosier said.

The acknowledgment the Cottens seek, according to Mosier, is recognition that there is an issue with how Colonial Life Arena deals with wheelchair-bound guests and an expression of commitment to making changes so what happened to Kayla doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Mosier wouldn’t say whether the Cotten family would consider suing if the university didn’t directly acknowledge the letter within a certain timeframe.

“It is our hope that through gathering more information concerning what happened to Kayla, further injuries can be prevented in the future,” a portion of their letter to South Carolina reads. “We trust that this goal is shared by the leadership at USC and those in control of the stadium’s operations and patron safety.”

South Carolina’s response

Kayla asked arena workers if she and her friend could sit in their original seats at the May WNBA game, meaning CLA ushers would need to take and store her wheelchair for the time being. Other arenas across the country — such as Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, and American Airlines Arena in Dallas — have and list wheelchair storage guidance on their ADA/disabled services page for guests seeking to “transfer to a seat from their wheelchair.”

South Carolina spokesman Jeff Stensland told The State there is no written policy at Colonial Life Arena related to stowing a guest’s wheelchair.

He otherwise declined to answer specific questions — including whether USC had made any contact with Mosier and the Cotten family, and whether or not he could confirm the allegation that Colonial Life Arena ushers declined to allow Kayla and her friend to sit in the original seats they purchased.

Stensland offered the following statement: “While I can’t discuss specifics of this incident, ensuring the safety of guests is extremely important to us and our staff takes precautions to achieve that goal at every event, at all our venues.”

A third-party insurance agent reached out to Mosier on July 23 to inquire about the incident on the university’s behalf, the lawyer told The State, and said that video footage of the incident does not exist. USC’s insurance claims folks also allowed Mosier to go inside the arena with a consultant to inspect the arena on Aug. 2, she said.

“Usually an insured, here the University, will speak through its insurance folks and it seems that is what they’re choosing to do now,” Mosier said in a text message to The State. “I would very much like for them to take an approach (of) problem solving (and) forward thinking prevention, not just paying her claim.

“It will happen again and the next time the person or child may have even worse injuries.”

More about the incident

USC women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley responded to Kayla and her father Jonathan via X on May 13. She wished Kayla a full recovery and told Jonathan she would take his CLA safety concerns “2 the top.”

Kayla was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease at the age of 15, Jonathan previously told The State. The condition affects the function of the mitochondria in one’s cells. For Kayla, this has caused gastroparesis, or “stomach paralysis.” She spends most of her time in bed and uses a wheelchair because walking expends a lot of energy.

Kayla is also an avid women’s basketball fan. She traveled from Richmond, Virginia to watch the back-to-back defending WNBA champion Aces and Gamecock great A’ja Wilson play an exhibition game at CLA on May 11.

Ahead of tip-off, Kayla and her friend Jazmine Jones made their way to the concourse at 12:05 p.m., where they spoke to a greeter at the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) ramp of sections 101 and 102, according to a CLA incident report.

Mosier said Kayla and Jones were told they couldn’t sit where they purchased tickets in Section 221.

Kayla asked if she and Jones could walk to their seats, Mosier said, and that request was denied. They asked about ADA seating and were told the area was full, according to Mosier.

The official attendance count on May 11 was 13,507.

“If you’re able-bodied enough that you can leave your wheelchair and walk to your general ticket seating, you can do that,” Mosier said. “You have the autonomy of choice to do that. ... The first thing that USC kept asking my client was, ‘Did you purchase ADA seating?’ ”

There was no mention of Kayla and Jones’ seat change in the incident report.

Kayla has attended basketball games at Tennessee, UConn, the Washington Mystics and the Dallas Wings, Mosier said, and never ran into such issues.

Kayla and Jones went to the ADA elevator at Colonial Life Arena at 12:07 p.m., according to the report, and were no longer visible on arena cameras. “It’s assumed they went to the 200-level ADA row then,” the report read. They ended up in Section 202.

Mosier said neither Kayla nor Jones could see an attendant near them in their new seats. According to CLA’s incident report, however, staff members were positioned in the following areas at the time of Kayla’s fall (1:15 p.m.): sections 228/201, 201/202, 203/204 and in the ADA elevator.

EMS left first aid at 1:17 p.m. and reached Kayla at 1:21 p.m., per the report. From there, she was taken to Prisma Health Richland Hospital in an ambulance.

Jones testified in the arena incident report that she believed Kayla stood up from her wheelchair, possibly from excitement, got dizzy and fell over the railing. Jonathan told The State in May that Kayla’s fall triggered a seizure. When Kayla came to, Jones testified, she began to “describe bits of what happened.”

“If you’re gonna force someone to sit in their chair, then you darn well need to have an attendant there, bathroom facilities nearby and have some plexiglass to make sure that, with that lowered rail, someone doesn’t fall and die,” Mosier said.

“Because she very well could have.”