Player Had Sickle Cell Trait

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri football player whose sudden death was attributed to viral meningitis was also a carrier of sickle cell trait, an inherited condition that some medical experts suggest played a larger role than his autopsy report concluded.

Boone County Medical Examiner Valerie Rao found lymphocytic meningitis to be the probable cause of death for Aaron O’Neal, a redshirt freshman linebacker who collapsed and later died following a July 12 preseason workout.

Rao, who released her autopsy findings on Aug. 23, has repeatedly denied any connection with sickle cell trait, a condition that can lead to the blood disorder sickle cell anemia. Red blood cells with the genetic disorder were detected in O’Neal’s liver, spleen, kidneys and brain.

But a University Hospital neuropathologist who examined O’Neal’s brain concluded otherwise, the Columbia Missourian reported Sunday.

“In my opinion, both lymphocytic meningitis and sickle cell trait are potential contributing factors in this sudden death,” wrote Douglas Anthony in a report accompanying Rao’s autopsy.