Student injured at Rec Center
By Braden Howell
Staff Reporter

A TCU student was injured and had to receive four staples on the top of his forehead Monday while working out in the weight room at the University Recreation Center, sophomore business major Scott Espensen said.

Espensen said Drew Corbett, a freshman journalism major, was using the Nautilus Freedom Trainer to do tricep pushdowns when one of the metal arms of the machine came loose and fell on Corbett’s head. Corbett declined to comment on the incident.

“I watched it happen and I asked him if he was OK, but he just kind of looked at me,” Espensen said. “All of the sudden I saw this huge drop of blood start running down his face. Then he started bleeding everywhere.”

Espensen said Corbett had already done one set on the machine, but that he had increased the weight to 155 pounds for the second set when the accident occurred.

A staff member at the recreational center, who asked to remain anonymous, said the weights on the machine have been improperly balanced since the first week the machine was put in, and that the machine is scheduled to be serviced soon. Steve Kintigh, director of Campus Recreation, said he wasn’t aware of any problems and he would have the Fitness Service of North Texas people check it out today.

Kintigh said he did not witness the incident, but added that a pin on the machine was not in all the way.

“I’m confident none of the injuries we’ve had have anything to do with the equipment,” Kintigh said.

A memo sent Monday from Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Damien Abel to recreation center staff states that Fitness Service of North Texas should be coming today to repair the kevlar belts on all Cybex Eagle equipment, and should be replacing screws on the Tricep Extension and Bicep Curl.

The source from the recreation center said signs were placed on all machines requiring service, warning students not to use the machines; however no such signs could be found on any machine in the weight room.

Kintigh said they received the last batch of Cybex’s old models of kevlar belts which were excessively frayed.

Abel said in any incident where a student is injured, an investigation is done to determine whether the cause was user or mechanical error.

Kintigh said he had not heard anything about the weights on the Nautilus machine, but that he would have the Fitness Service people check the weights immediately.

Braden Howell
b.r.howell@tcu.edu