CCU student with disabilities left alone in classroom during seizure, suit says
A former Coastal Carolina University student with disabilities was left alone in a classroom while having a grand mal seizure, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
Jeshua Matzdorff, the student, and his parents, Carrie Lynn Cairns and Mark Scott Cairns, are suing Coastal Carolina University, its CoastalLIFE Program and CoastalLIFE instructor and assistant director Brian Keys for negligence. Matzdorff filed the suit on April 21.
Coastal Carolina University does not comment on pending litigation, said assistant director of university communication Katie Augustine in an email to The Sun News.
Matzdorff was a part of the CoastalLIFE program, which allows students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities to attend college while also learning the skills necessary to live as independent adults, the lawsuit said. When Matzdorff began the program in September 2024, his family informed Coastal Carolina University of his medical issues, which include having seizures.
Students in the CoastalLIFE program keep a whiteboard outside their dorm room where students write where they are during the day and when they expect to be back, the suit said.
On Jan. 13, 2025, Matzdorff wrote that he was headed to his 3 p.m. class and would be back at about 4:30 p.m.
During his class, which Keys taught, Matzdorff began to feel ill. After class, everyone except Matzdorff left the room. This includes Keys who did not check to see why Matzdorff stayed behind. Keys “was well aware” of Matzdorff’s seizures but still left him in the classroom alone, according to the lawsuit.
Matzdorff began experiencing symptoms signaling a seizure and continued to decline when left alone in the classroom. He stayed there for over an hour until students began filing in for the next class. Then he threw up and began to have a grand mal seizure, which the Mayo Clinic states causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions.
The new students called EMS at 5:50 p.m. for Matzdorff’s seizure, the lawsuit said. EMS brought the man to the Conway Medical Center.
Due to the improper monitoring and his seizure, Matzdorff had to withdraw from the CoastalLIFE program, which caused him pain and suffering. Doctors also had to administer “strong and potent drugs” and Matzdorff was permanently injured, the lawsuit stated.
Matzdorff is suing the university over negligence, stating they failed to follow the CoastalLIFE Program’s rules and should have checked on Matzdorff when he didn’t return when he said he would. The suit states Coastal Carolina University did not train its staff adequately.
Matzdorff and his family request a permanent injunction on the CoastalLIFE Program to institute safeguards to benefit students like Matzdorff. The lawsuit also asks for actual, special, consequential and punitive damages.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 11:20 AM.
