A Rocky Point family is suing their school district for $12 million, saying that it failed to provide reasonable safeguards against MRSA.
The lawsuit comes after 15-year-old Anthony Lucia Jr. contracted the infection while wrestling in December 2014. The Lucia family says the infection was caused by dirty mats.
"One of my veins was just very hot and red, and shooting up into my groin," said Lucia Jr.
Attorney John Ray says the wrestling mats in the high school "hadn't been cleaned or flipped over... in years."
Five students in total were diagnosed with MRSA, a staph infection that is resistant to many common antibiotics.
Rocky Point district officials refused to comment, citing litigation and the need to maintain confidentiality on matters involving students.