Fla. Student Chokes to Death on Hot Dog, CPR Didn`t Work
CLERMONT, Fla. --
An East Ridge Middle School student choked to death Friday while eating a hot dog.
A witness told deputies she was eating lunch in the cafeteria when she saw the boy coughing and trying to clear his airway. The witness said another student escorted the boy to the school clinic and 911 was called.
According to the incident report from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, a deputy attempted to revive the student with CPR, but was unsuccessful. Paramedics took over the rescue attempt, but the student died after he was rushed to the hospital. Linda Mitchell, Colton's mother was holding his hand inside the hospital room. "It was such a shock, it happened so sudden," Mitchell said.
The student's teacher said he was autistic and had tongue manipulation issues, deputies said. The teacher told deputies the student was a "ferocious eater" and said she had told the student several times to slow down while eating and chew his food.
Mitchell says Colton couldn't speak well, but loved to sing. "He was always able to get his point across. He would run and get a picture and point to the pictures," Mitchell said.
Colton's mom says he made a tye dye T-shirt at school that he wore for four days straight, he even wanted to sleep in it. So the family decided to bury him in his favorite shirt. Classmates of Colton also plan to wear the tye dye shirts during Colton's funeral which will be held Wednesday at the Family Christian Center in Clermont at 10:30 a.m. The public is invited.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is still investigating the death, they tell Local 6 it is still too soon to determine if everything was done correctly.
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