Source : Perth Now news
The grief-stricken parents of an eight-year-old girl who died after choking on her lunch while at school have shared heart-breaking surveillance of their daughters terrifying final moments.
Adrian Thompson had been enjoying her lunch with her friends at Velma Penny Elementary School in Texas in April when the horror scene unfolded and she began choking.
CCTV footage shared with the media by her parents, Anna Thompson and Greg Sher, shows Adrian coughing into a napkin before she frantically ran towards staff with her hands at her throat.
A police report said the employee thought Adrian was sick at first, so they guided her to a bin before suggesting she go to the bathroom.
Seconds later Adrian is seen returning to the canteen, appearing distressed, before running down the school halls and to the nurse’s office.
A nurse told police that Adrian pointed to her mouth and tried to communicate before she began to turn blue.
While footage from inside the nurse’s office is not available police revealed staff used an adult-sized anti-choking suction device rather than a paediatric one — a detail her parents describe as “deeply concerning.”
Around five minutes after she first began choking a call was made to the emergency services by the principal, with paramedics racing her to a hospital just minutes later.
Despite doctor’s efforts to save Adrian’s life, the eight-year-old was pronounced dead the following morning due to the extensive damage to her brain.
A lack of oxygen for up to four minutes can lead to irreversible brain damage and trigger cardiac arrest if the airway is not cleared.
Adrian’s family claim critical minutes passed before lifesaving measures were taken which is why they decided to share the CCTV footage publicly.
“The future looks like focusing on the truth,” Ms Thompson told US outlet CBS 19.
“The truth matters, and we don’t want anything but the truth to be shared at this point in time.
“If the camera footage that we were shown showed that once Adrian began choking and she got up for help, she went to the adult in charge and that they started all helping right away, then she still passed away after all of the intervention that could be done, I would still be devastated that Adrian passed away.
“But that’s not what the camera footage shows. So, this is where we feel like people need to know about this.”
An official investigation by Texas police found no criminal offence and confirmed no charges would be laid, while a medical examiner has ruled the death an accident.
