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9-Year-Old NYC Boy Chokes In School Cafeteria Updated: Saturday, 17 Dec 2011, 6:20 PM EST Published : Saturday, 17 Dec 2011, 4:13 PM EST NEW YORK (AP) - Witnesses say a fourth-grade boy choked on meatballs during lunch in a New York City school cafeteria this month and later died. The New York Post reports that 9-year-old Jonathan Jewth fell to the ground during lunch Dec. 5 and was unconscious before help arrived.
A parent at the school, Andrea Perez, told the newspaper she saw the boy choking but cafeteria workers did nothing. She said at one point they yelled at him to put his fingers down his throat. "He was on the ground and not moving after a while," Perez said through a Spanish-speaking translator. "Nobody was paying attention and they didn't know how to give aid, nobody knew what to do." She said she did not know how to resuscitate the boy so she called 911 and started screaming for help. Another parent tried to help the boy, the newspaper reported. Jewth was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center. Jonathan's family told the newspaper he suffered brain damage and died Monday. Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said his death was a tragedy. Education officials haven't responded to requests for comment about the family's and Perez's account.
'They're saying that they did everything, but others are saying that there was no one around at the time.' According to various accounts, Jonathan was laughing with other students, eating a meatball sandwich, when he began to choke. There is also a discrepancy on the time the incident was reported, by both the 911 dispatch and the school's records.
Ms Jewth has said the school reported the time of the incident being at 12:15pm and that they called the police exactly one minute later, at 12:16pm. But NBC4 says they have since learned from speaking to the New York Fire Department, that 911 dispatch was called by the school at 12:29pm.
According to the FDNY, they were at the scene four minutes later and the student e arrived at the Jacobi Medical Center at 12:48pm in critical condition. That was December 5th, but after laying in a coma for nine days, he died this Wednesday. With witness accounts and school reports not adding up, Ms Jewth plans to file an intent to sue the school next week.
At the very least, her attorney says she wants to know what happened to her boy. 'Ms. Jewth is committed to finding the truth and has indicated that she will not rest until she knows exactly what happened to her only child,' her attorney said in a statement. A responding statement by the schools' chancellor Dennis Walcott read: 'tragically, a student passed away and my heart goes out to the family and the school community.' 'I don't have words to describe how I feel right now. Nobody can even understand what I am going through,' Ms Jewth has said since, who working as a house keeper, says she hasn't been able to return to her job since her son was admitted to the hospital.
