Beloved Diamond Bar Coach's Family Files Wrongful Death Suit

WALNUT, CA — Alexander Ruiz would still be alive today, had CPR efforts to save his life continue, the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges.

Relatives of a 46-year-old Diamond Bar High girls water polo assistant coach who collapsed after practice in 2016 and died later at a hospital filed a wrongful death suit Friday against the Walnut Valley Unified School District.

According to the lawsuit, coaches Megan Garcia and Gina Ramos stopped their CPR efforts after less than a minute.

Ruiz suffered cardiac arrest in the school parking lot last Jan. 12.

Garcia and Ramos are co-defendants in the case with Diamond Bar High, Los Angeles County and school athletic trainer Chase Paulson, who told the other two to stop giving Ruiz CPR before paramedics arrived, the suit states.

WVUSD Superintendent Robert Taylor could not be immediately reached for comment.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Ruiz's widow, Norlina Ruiz, and children, Michael, Patrick and Kyra.

"Had the defendants continued to perform CPR for a longer period of time and/or until the paramedics arrived, the decedent's life would have been saved," according to the lawsuit, which alleges Paulson, Garcia and Ramos committed gross negligence because they had no reason to believe further CPR would not help revive Ruiz.

The Diamond Bar High website states that Paulson is a certified instructor of CPR and first aid.