Family of LA teen, 13, sue school district for his death during PE class in 2016, receive $15M
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The family of a 13-year-old student, who died in 2016, was awarded $15M by a jury after physical education teachers were found liable for the teenager's death death, on Friday, April 14. The student, who is identified as MT in court documents, died at Palms Middle School on April 25, 2016, after collapsing while jogging during a physical education class.
Although staffers claimed at the time that they attempted CPR on the child, it was all in vain as the as insufficient oxygen in his heart and brain left him brain dead. According to public school policy, the school had an automated external defibrillator (AED) set aside for such emergencies in their office. However, the boy was left without any aid for a crucial 12 minutes as school staffers failed to use the machine.
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LA Unified School District held responsible
Medical experts testifying for the boy's father for nearly six years argued that the use of the automatic external defibrillator would have saved his son's life. The LA Unified School District was held liable due to negligence. "Another hard fought victory for our clients," Gary Casselman, the civil rights attorney who filed the wrongful death suit on behalf of the boy's father back in July 2017 wrote in a Facebook post.
According to the Daily Mail, Casselman added that while the victim's family was "gratified that the jury rendered a verdict in their favor," they "have been devastated by the loss of their son". "Nothing will bring him back, but they wanted accountability from the district," Casselman told the LA Times.
Teenager had pre-existing medical condition
Casselman, along with fellow attorney Haytham Faraj, had argued in court that a physical education staffer failed the youngster when he collapsed, citing how LAUSD attorneys confirmed the boy had a pre-existing medical condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The condition occurs in individuals whose heart muscles are thicker than usual, making it more difficult for the heart to pump blood.
The lawyer representing the district said that neither CPR nor an AED could have helped restore his heart function to normal, citing his condition. "In fact, at the time of his collapse, there was nothing... immediately at the school site that would have allowed decedent to be resuscitated," the defense wrote in a section of the since resolved suit.
The defense further claimed that the child, who died a couple of days after he was hospitalized, was attended to by multiple teachers, who tried their best to revive him. However, none of the teachers thought about the AED device that may have saved his life, although it was in a predesignated place in the school’s front office. The defense said during last week's proceedings that this was due to the principal not being notified of the device's existence. The principal was responsible for informing all staffers of the defibrillator, which did not occur on the day of the incident.
Roughly 12 minutes after the boy collapsed, emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene. The child did not receive the necessary oxygen and was brain dead by the time first responders arrived, the testimony read.
