An investigation is underway into the choking death of 21-year old high school student Dyasha Smith at her Brooklyn, NY high school. Smith had autism and was supposed to be under constant supervision, especially on the school bus and during lunch time.
According to Catherine Smith, Dyasha's mother, the school was informed of the special needs of her daughter and was carefully instructed to cut up all her food into small pieces, and soak any bread in water before she was allowed to eat them. Otherwise, Dyasha would put too much into her mouth and swallow everything whole.
"The school really has to be held responsible because this child should not have died in that school," she said about the death of her daughter.
Based on reports, when people in the cafeteria, located in the basement level of Star Academy in Cobble Hill, realized that something was wrong with Dyasha, someone ran to notify the nurse. When Catherine was informed that her daughter was in trouble, she attempted to phone the paraprofessional assigned to Dyasha, but her calls were unanswered.
An anonymous Fire Department employee who arrived at the scene with paramedics said that the nurse was performing CPR but it was unclear if anyone had attempted the Heimlich maneuver.
Dyasha was rushed to New York Methodist Hospital but by the time Catherine arrived at her daughter's side, she was already declared dead.
The New York City Education Department is carefully investigating the events that led up to Dyasha's death and if the school handled the emergency properly.
Catherine Smith firmly believes that her daughter died due to the school's negligence.
"If somebody was with this child, they could have been able to save her from choking," she said.
Following the incident, an announcement was made over the school's P.A. System for some moments of silence for Dyasha. Two cards were passed around the school for condolences, one for the family, and the other for the nurse who performed CPR.
