Wright’s Gym
PITTSBURGH - An overzealous Muay Thai instructor sent one of his students to the hospital with internal bleeding, a lawsuit against a Pittsburgh gym says.
Nico Corradetti sued Wright's Gym on June 24 in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, alleging an instructor known as R.J. took a sparring session way too far. It left Corradetti with blood in his urine, a concussion and an enlarged spleen, among other health problems.
"As Plaintiff and R.J. began sparring, R.J. started throwing punches and kicks at full force," the suit says. "Plaintiff told R.J. that he thought this sparring was not to be all-out, but R.J. did not reply and continued to attack Plaintiff a full force."
It occurred Dec. 7, when Corradetti was attempting to qualify for a team the gym sponsors - Pittsburgh Muay Thai. The test consists of endurance activities and limited sparring with restrictions.
One of them held that participants couldn't use direct-knee attacks. Instead, they could only use the insides of their thighs and were also told to avoid "all-out contact to the head."
Corradetti had already sparred five rounds with other instructors, but as he began to take off his gloves, R.J. ordered him for one more round. The suit says R.J. outweighs Corradetti by at least 50 pounds.
"At one point, R.J. kicked the plaintiff so hard in his leg that it caused Plaintiff difficulty standing," the suit says. "He followed that up by throwing into the ropes and sending a barrage of straight knees int Plaintiff's abdomen and punches into his torso and head area."
Corradetti said he was left unable to defend himself until the round was stopped and unable to breathe normally. Blood in his urine caused him to head to the Allegheny Health Network Neighborhod Hospital emergency room.
He was sent to a trauma unit where he was treated for two days. Scott Glassmith of Tetlow represents the plaintiff, who accuses Wright's Gym of failing to properly train instructors on how to spar.
He also says R.J. "was not in a proper state of mind to spar with the plaintiff" and that he Corradetti was forced to do so, despite a major height-and-weight disparity, when "there was no reason to do so."
