Taylor Goodridge sepsis death: Dad sues Utah boarding school that claimed girl, 17, was 'faking her pain'
HURRICANE, UTAH: The father of a boarding school student who died in Utah has filed a lawsuit, claiming the institution disregarded his daughter's pleas of "severe pain" in the days before her demise. Taylor Goodridge, 17, died on December 20 after collapsing at the Diamond Ranch Academy in Hurricane, Utah. According to her family, she had sepsis from an undiagnosed illness. Dean Goodridge, Taylor's father, sued the school in late December and as a result, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services placed the school on probation.
Dean claims that staff advised the 17-year-old to "suck it up" and suggested that she was making up her abdominal pain by drinking water and taking aspirin, causing her to briefly fall into her own vomit one time. According to its website, Diamond Ranch Academy is a "therapeutic boarding school" that assists teenagers with a range of problems, including severe depressive disorder and problems with anger control. The teenager's official cause of death has not yet been determined or disclosed. As per Daily Mail, Taylor became ill on December 20 and passed out inside the institution. Taylor was declared dead by the EMS personnel when they arrived. The girl's father claims in the lawsuit that she complained to the staff about acute abdomen pain for weeks starting in November. Dean also complains that in response, the school and its employees asserted that she was faking her illness despite the fact that she briefly lost consciousness just before she tragically died.
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The girl's illness were not treated or taken seriously by the school, according to the lawsuit which was brought by Alan Mortensen who represents Dean. According to her father, Taylor was in "very good health" when she checked into the institution. “Here is that this young teenager is sent down to Utah from the state of Washington to try and help her get her life back in order,” said Mortensen. “And before they know it, she’s died from what we believe will ultimately prove out to be sepsis. And with no explanation,” the lawyer told Fox News. In the weeks preceding her death, Taylor reportedly complained about her agony and implored officials for assistance, according to her father's lawsuit. School staff ignored Taylor despite the fact that she had fainted in her own vomit and that her abdomen was "extremely distended so that it was noticeable to others."
Dean claims, via his attorney, that he thinks the treatment his daughter had may be indicative of what other children go through who "are often ignored or told that they are faking their illnesses." Mortensen further claims that the teen's family was informed by school officials that she had suffered a heart attack and had been brought to the hospital where she eventually died. Her family feels that sepsis from an undiagnosed abdomen problem caused her death. According to the lawsuit, the father trusted the school enough to send his daughter there after reading the guarantees it made. “We recognize how difficult a decision it was to intervene on your child's behalf,” a Diamond Ranch Academy Parent Manual reads, according to the lawsuit. “We also recognize how difficult it is to place the care of your child in the hands of another. Please take comfort in knowing that we take our responsibility very seriously,” the manual states as per Daily Mail.
Additionally, the institution assures parents that it will "treat every student as if they were our own daughter or son." In a statement, Diamond Ranch Academy said: “We are cooperating fully and transparently with the State of Utah as they investigate this tragedy. The safety of the students is our number one priority and we are continually striving to provide the best care possible to our students and families.” The father of Taylor is asking for a jury trial. The lawsuit demands that the academy pay the cost of the attorneys' fees as well as general and specific damages that will be decided by the jury. In addition, Diamond Ranch Academy is being asked to pay punitive damages in "an amount sufficient to punish DRA and deter DRA and others in similar situations from engaging in such conduct in the future," according to the family.