Coastal Carolina student-athlete suing school claiming negligent injury care. What we know
Coastal Carolina University faces a lawsuit from one of its student-athletes, claiming it referred her to a doctor who gave her a career-ending injury.
Horry County Court Records show Lawyers for CCU sprinter Zahria Jones filed a lawsuit Jan. 9, 2025, against the university and a Grand Strand-based chiropractic practice. The lawsuit claims that Coastal’s referral of Carolina Clinic of Chiropractic and Gregory Shirley for treatment to Jones represented negligence that didn’t protect her from receiving poor care.
Joe Monneyham is one of Jones’ lawyers, but he did not respond to a request for comment before publication. The Sun News contacted Shirley through his practice but received no response before publication.
The suit also accused Shirley and the practice of providing incompetent care that injured Jones. The filing claims that CCU referred Jones and other athletes to Shirley for treatment, and she received therapy for her lower back and pelvis Jan. 16, 2023.
The lawsuit claims Jones didn’t seek treatment on her lower knee. However, the lawsuit alleges that Shirley performed an adjustment on Jones’ right knee that caused initial discomfort and “excruciating pain” after a second attempt.
The lawsuit alleges thatShirley’s treatment caused a partial tear in Jones’ quadriceps tendon and “patellofemoral maltracking” in Jones’ knee.
In one filing, Jones’s lawyers claimed she incurred more than $5,600 in medical expenses due to the injury. The filing also claims the injury ended her track and field career.
“The University does not comment on current or pending litigation.,” a spokesperson for Coastal Carolina wrote to The Sun News via email.
Shirley’s Carolina Clinic of Chiropractic website states that he worked with CCU’s football team “for the last several years.”
