[drjimmy]

It is highly possible that choking on a hamburger is not what caused this student to die, and that the Heimlich would not have helped. While witnesses may believe that to be the case from the circumstances, the autopsy will have to determine exactly what happened.

Exactly three weeks ago today, my 14-year old son was talking with three friends before the start of their seventh period high school class. One of them turned around to walk away and suddenly dropped right to the floor. At first they thought he was playing a joke, but then they realized he was having some kind of seizure. A teacher started CPR right away when she found no pulse, and paramedics were there within minutes. Despite putting every possible drug in him and shocking him four times, his heart just wouldn't start.

Everyone at the school has been just devastated by this. We've known the boy since kindergarten and I used to coach him in t-ball with my son. We learned just yesterday that they have determined the cause of death to be myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle usually caused by a virus. Upon looking up info about it, I was stunned to learn that it is the cause of up to 20% of sudden deaths among young adults.

It is certainly possible that something like this, an aneurysm, or an embolism could have caused the boy in this case to suffer cardiac arrest.

[Samwise]

That is so sad, too. I'm so sorry.

[ontos-on]

it is also possible that you are a giraffe.

[ontos-on]

What i mean to say is that you are speculating crazily from your son's experience to a completely different situation where the choking on the hamburger is clearly involved. You are exhibiting what I call psuedo knowledge. You know something but you have no idea hoe to apply this piece of knowledge.

The only common link to your kid's situation was that there was a HS kid in distress and there was a death. Recall that there was the eating of a hamburgere here which you easily dismiss and import all your extraneous facts to this situation. The lack of judgment which you exhibit here was also involved in this tragedy: the dumb teacher thought she knew something too, and relied on that rule rather than real perception and proper judgment--which had probably atrophied from teaching in a public HS. God save us all.

[OldFriend]

Whatever the cause of death, this story regarding the teacher shutting the cell phone, is inexcusable.