Jack Greener, San Diego, California Jiu-jitsu student paralyzed by black belt Brazilian instructor, Francisco Iturralde awarded $56 million after injury left him paralyzed. Student victim despite his disability gone on to achieve milestones.
A California jiu-jitsu student has been awarded $56 million after he was left paralyzed from the neck down by a black-belt instructor.
Jack Greener, 30, was a beginner white belt sparring with his Brazilian martial arts teacher, second-degree black belt, Francisco Iturralde, 33, when he suffered the devastating injury in 2018, leading to his cervical vertebrae being crushed and rendering him a quadriplegic.
Video showed the beginner on all fours as his instructor flips him forward, awkwardly twisting him face down and twisting his neck.
Jack Greener, San Diego, Jiu-jitsu student paralyzed
‘The black belt instructor did a technique that placed his entire body weight on Greener’s neck, causing him to instantly fall limp and lose all function of his limbs,’ said BJJ legend Rener Gracie, who was called as an expert witness in the case.
Greener was hospitalized for several months, suffering multiple strokes as a result of his injuries — which came just weeks before he was due to graduate from college, his attorneys said according to NBC San Diego.
He sued the Del Mar Jiu Jitsu club in San Diego for the injuries he blamed on Iturralde, who earned the nickname ‘Sinistro,’ or ‘Sinister,’ for his “dynamic, aggressive grappling style,” according to his bio on a site selling online instructionals.
Greener has since used his story to motivate others and documented his journey to become one of only two people with his disability to go above 14,000 feet on foot when he climbed Mount Bross in Colorado, according to his website. In January 2019, he started to regain movement and could walk with the help of a cane.
Greener, who is now a mountain climber and motivational speaker, was first awarded $46 million by a San Diego jury in 2023.
The studio appealed the decision to the California Supreme Court, which declined to overturn the judgment this week.
The verdict was also affirmed by a state appellate panel late last year.
With post-judgment interest, the award now exceeds $56 million, Greener’s attorneys said.
The final appellate court’s ruling ‘cements a critical legal victory not only for our client, but also for injured athletes across California by reaffirming that sports instructors and facilities may be held accountable when they unreasonably increase risks beyond those inherent in the sport,’ said one of Greener’s attorneys, Rahul Ravipudi.
Not immediately clear is whether Greener will ever collect a dollar of his new symbolic windfall win…
