Boy, five, with special needs dies from choking on a nectarine at school after ‘teacher left him alone in classroom’
A FIVE-year-old special needs boy died from choking on a nectarine at school after he was reportedly left alone in the classroom.
The tragedy struck when five-year-old Lucas Latouche Mazzei was watching cartoons in a classroom at Adelaide’s Henley Beach Primary School.
An inquest into the incident found that the boy’s death was preventable had he not been left unsupervised.
The schoolboy was one of the 350 across the world suffering from a rare genetic condition known as SSADH causing developmental delays.
On the day of his death, in March 2017, the boy did not take part in a science lesson over fears he might put objects in his mouth, an inquest heard.
He was instead watching his favourite cartoon The Gruffalo supervised by his teacher who left the classroom briefly and an education support officer.
The officer, who had a restricted view of the area, failed to realise that the boy was choking on a nectarine he had found in the classroom.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and frantically tried to help the boy but they were unable to save him.
Lucas was taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
SA Deputy Coroner Ian White revealed the inquest’s findings on Friday .
He said the five-year-old’s death “would have been prevented” if the staff had stayed in the classroom with him and slammed the school saying the teachers need to have adequate first-aid training.
Outside court on Friday, the boy’s parents Daniela Mazzei and Miguel Latouche slammed the Department of Education on how they handled their son’s death.
Daniela made an emotional statement saying: “It was clear that the Education Department did not want to know how a young boy died in their care.
“They were not interested in learning from his death to ensure this never happens again.”
The mum added that the process of finding answers was “extremely hurtful and cruel”.
“[We] ask the Department of Education to acknowledge that Lucas died because something went wrong in one of the special needs classrooms where he was left alone unsupervised.”
The inquest found that Lucas who required one-on-one support “at all times” and needed help with eating was left alone for up to ten minutes.
The coroner described the boy’s death as “heartbreaking and tragic” adding: “Lucas’ parents have been consumed by grief over the death of their precious little son that day.”
A week after Luca’s death, the school issued a newsletter saying the boy had died “from complications after an isolated medical episode related to his condition,” which White said was inaccurate.
The school placed a plaque outside the school classroom, without consulting the family.
White made a number of recommendations including teaching staff to have first-aid training.
He also suggested the Education Department review its procedures and policy on storing food at school.