advertisement

Lawsuit: U-46, Elgin school negligent in seizure death of 5th-grader

Parents of a fifth-grade boy who died last year at Highland Elementary School in Elgin are suing the school and Elgin Area School District U-46, alleging staff members were negligent when the boy suffered a fatal seizure while playing tag.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Kane County court by the boy's parents, seeks unspecified damages stemming from the May 19, 2017, death of the 11-year-old from Elgin.

The suit states staff members at Highland Elementary, 190 N. Melrose Ave., Elgin, knew the boy was asthmatic, had a severe seizure disorder and carried an inhaler.

He was playing a game of tag, also known as "statue," in an unsupervised classroom when he started to shake, fell and hit his head, according to the suit. School personnel were called, but failed to provide appropriate medical care, supervise the classroom, find or use the inhaler, promptly call 911 or perform CPR, the suit claims.

"Highland Elementary School and U-46 personnel knew, or should have known, the CPR should be initiated on a nonresponsive student who is not breathing. CPR was not initiated until after paramedics arrived at 11:40 a.m., at least a full seven minutes after the incident," the lawsuit states.

U-46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus said the district has not been served with the lawsuit and had no comment. She did not respond to queries of what, if any, policy changes had been implemented at Highland Elementary since the boy's death.

William Gibbs, an attorney for the boy's relatives, declined to comment when reached by phone this week.

The case is scheduled to be up in Kane County court on Aug. 8.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.