Trial Begins After Student Chokes To Death On Marshmallow

[shawn703]

Six years after a suburban Chicago sixth-grader choked to death while stuffing marshmallows in her mouth, the school district is on trial in a civil suit.

Catherine "Casey" Fish, 12, died while she and her classmates were playing a game called "chubby bunny." Fish was a sixth-grade student at Hoffman Elementary School in Glenview, Ill., and was playing a game called "chubby bunny" -- where participants stuffed their mouths with as many marshmallows as possible and tried to say the words "chubby bunny" -- on June 4, 1999.

Casey stuffed four marshmallows into her mouth, choked and collapsed. She died a short time later at Glenbrook Hospital.

The lawyer for the girl's family told the court that the accident happened while the teacher left the classroom, so the school district is to blame for a lack of supervision.

The lawyer for the Glenview School district said the children were in an open classroom with other teachers around, so they were never left unsupervised.

The lawsuit doesn't say how much money the parents are asking for.

The attorney for Fish’s family, which is suing a Glenview Elementary School, said Thursday that better supervision could have prevented Casey’s death.


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[Miss Chybil]

1. How sad. nt

[Benhurst]

2. "...Better supervision could have prevented Casey's death," to

say nothing of not playing such a stupid, potentially dangerous game in the first place.

[joneschick]

4. I've seen it done

at the high school level to determine which team will get to call the challenge in competitive ComedySportz. It's really very funny, but I can see where supervision and understanding the dangers would be important. I feel for the parents losing a daughter in what would appear to be such a senseless manner. We all want wonderful legacies for ourselves and our children.

[mbperrin]

3. And the negligent teacher is now a principal,.....

about says it all.

[anotherdrew]

6. no one knew what to do?

no one even tried to clear her throat?

[slackmaster]

13. Every child should be taught the Heimlich Maneuver

:grr:

[LiberalVoice]

5. "the accident happened while the teacher left the classroom"

"the children were in an open classroom with other teachers around, so they were never left unsupervised."

Well which is it? Whos lying?

[The_Counsel]

7. Amazing. This Is Why Right-Wingers Can't Stand Lawyers...

...though they seem to be the first to call one when they don't get their way. But I digress.

My heart goes out to the Fish family for their loss, but I think they're reaching for straws here. This is obviously a "well, SOMEBODY has to pay for this" reaction.

BTW, didn't Marlon Brando stuff his cheeks full 'o' marshmallows to get that distinctive voice for Don Vito Corleone? He managed to live over thirty years after doing that. Either this child simply didn't play the game right, or the Brando family should be suing Francis Ford Coppola's ass off...

[tblue37]

8. Actually, I think he used cotton--

or maybe it was Kleenex.

[Lars39]

11. You're blaming the kid for not playing the game right?

Seeing how many marshmellows you can stuff in your mouth is a choking hazard, and the adults should have realized that.

[Massacure]

9. I love chubby bunny, but the teacher is an idiot to leave during it.

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Damn, I used to play that game!

Except it was with grapes, and my friend and I were 15...I can see the potential for harm.

[MrSlayer]

12. No one knew the Heimlich maneuver I guess.

Damn shame. This should never have happened.

[RobinA]

14. Not Sure

the Heimlich would work on gunk like four marshmallows.

How they can blame the teachers for this is beyond me. This child was 12. It's sad, but some one isn't always at fault when bad things happen. Where's the countersuit claiming the parents didn't teach the child not to talk with her mouth full? It makes about as much sense.

[MrSlayer]

15. I think it would if done correctly.

You can get every bit of air out the same way you get every bit of mustard out of one of those Chinese packets. Worse comes to worst you stick your hand down there and grab it.