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American Morning

Interview with Samoa Fili Sr., Ed Dare

Aired April 03, 2002 - 09:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As any fan of track and field knows, the pole vault is no easy achievement. Take a look at some pole vaulters in action, and you can see the degree of difficulty involved in executing a successful vault. It requires a blend of speed and skill, enough to send an athlete over the bar.

But over the past 20 years there have been at least 15 fatal pole vaulting accidents in high schools in the U.S. The latest happened just this past weekend, when a Kansas High School senior, Samoa Fili, missed the protective mat and hit his head on the concrete pavement. Samoa Fili was the second student pole vaulter to die this year. The first was Kevin Dare. Back in February, the Penn State vaulter fell headfirst and died during a Big Ten meet in Minneapolis. The fathers of both young men join us this morning. Kevin Dare's father, Ed Dare is in State College, Pennsylvania, and Samoa Fili senior joins us from Wichita, Kansas this morning.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for being with us, particularly as you continue to work through this horrible grieving process. Mr. Fili, I know you were at your son's meet on Saturday. What happened? What went wrong?

SAMOA FILI SR., FATHER OF POLE VAULTING ACCIDENT VICTIM: Well, I want to make that clear. Samoa -- Samoa didn't miss the mat. I mean, you know, he landed on the mat, and then he hit his head as he went backwards. You know, he went up -- instead of going straight up and down he went at it at an angle that -- and I think his speed and the height where he was going carried him, you know, over, you know, he didn't miss the mat.

ZAHN: How long had he been pole vaulting?

FILI: Two years.

ZAHN: Did he ever worry about getting hurt, did anybody -- any of his coaches warm him about the danger of the sport?

FILI: I don't know if they did, but he never talked to me about it. He loved it. He was disappointed last year because he didn't make it into state, and he told me that he was going to break the city record and the state record this year. So, he worked real hard this past summer on it.

ZAHN: And Mr. Fili, was there anything that could have been done differently with the setup of where the mats were that might have saved your son's life?

FILI: The only thing I can suggest is maybe on backside on the mat -- the short -- extend it out a little bit.

ED DARE, FATHER OF POLE VAULTING ACCIDENT VICTIM: I can hear you fine.

FILI: A little bit out.

ZAHN: I'm sorry, Mr. Fili. Apparently Mr. Dare's sound is bleeding into your sound, and we'll try to bring him into the conversation now.

Mr. Dare, can you hear me now?

DARE: Barely.

ZAHN: Okay. I'll try to speak out. You, too, lost your son about a month and half ago, but somehow you have found the strength to become an activist, and you have actually worked with the U.S. Track and Field Association to reform the sport. What needs to be done?

DARE: Basically a lot of things, and you're correct, it has been a great experience working with the United States Track and Field, especially two gentlemen, Jan Johnson and Eddie Seese.

Five major initiatives that need to be looked at, one is mandatory use of helmets. Two is a certification of the poles themselves, which is a major controversy, if you will, in the event. Three is the box collar or the area where the pole actually plants into the ground. Four would be the standards -- protections for the metal standards that actually hold the cross bar, and five would be a total -- you know, revisiting of the mats, the density of the mats, the size, the landing area of the mats.

We think all five of those have to be really considered for all the, you know, to get any kind of reform in the sport.

ZAHN: I know you couldn't hear the heart break of what Mr. Fili had to say this morning, but can you think of -- do you believe that any of these reforms might have saved his son's life, if they had been in place?

DARE: It's hard to tell, Paula, because, again, you're correct. I didn't hear any of his comments, and I will say that there has been three deaths in the last 49 days. There was another young man that died in Florida, actually five days before my son died with head injuries as well, and another athlete in Texas, within those same 49 days, suffered a severe head injury, has been in coma ever since and fighting for his life.

So there has been four fatal -- if you will, serious head injuries in the last 49 days in this sport. There has to be something done, and I'm determined something will get done to reform this sport.

ZAHN: It's hard to even comprehend these numbers. And, of course, this has taken such a personal toll on you and Mr. Fili, and it has been six weeks since you lost your son, and we've talked a little bit about your activism, and trying to get these reforms in place, but I understand that you also created a web site in his honor that is helping you work through your loss.

DARE: Yes.

ZAHN: What is the web site about?

DARE: The web site is vaultforlife.com. We just felt compelled to have a central focal point for any athlete, any track and field coach, any parent wanting to know more about the sport, wanting to look about what is being done to reform the sport from a safety aspect standpoint. It is also, obviously, a memorial to my son.

But the intent is to have that as the central focal point for bringing information, once we get some information through on the studies of what needs to be done for the reform, we are going to have it posted there. There's links to other web sites that specifically deal in pole vaulting, and, again, we are just trying to get it to be that one stop, if you will, for everyone to be able to go to and use for this sport.

ZAHN: Mr. Fili, we have heard some of what Mr. Dare wants to see happen. Any final words of advice for parents out there, whose sons and daughters are athletic and like the sport?

FILI: Well, I mean, this -- these kids they grow up and make up their mind what they want to do, and the only advice I can give is, support them, give them support, be there for them, and I mean, there's no way you can tell these kids not to do what their mind is set to do. My son loved pole vaulting. He -- I think he can't wait to get up in the morning so he can go to school, and after school, he don't come home until 6:30, 7:00 in the evening. Him and coach worked so hard.

He loved it, and like I said before, the only thing I can suggest as far as the safety goes is extending the mat out. Me, myself, I don't believe one helmet is -- you know, I think we are taking it to the extreme if we go around that route.

ZAHN: Well, I think both of you have done a lot to help athletic programs around the country and parents better understand what needs to be done, and we really appreciate both of your joining us, particularly at this very, very tough time of both of your lives. Thank you for sharing both of your stories with us this morning.

DARE: Thank you.

FILI: Thank you very much.

ZAHN: Good luck to both of your families.

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