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How the heck does a 12 year old choke on a MARSHMELLOW!?!?

How the heck does a 12 year old choke on a MARSHMELLOW!?!?
That's what I was thinking.

"This case was never about money," said the family's attorney, Francis Patrick Murphy. "This case has been about getting the message across to America that dangerous games should not be played in school, with or without supervision."

Somehow I really doubt that...

1999?! Good lord. :crazy:

Actually it is possible - very easily - even for an adult. If one slid down her throat, the softness of the marshmallow would conform to her throat and completely cut off air - that's why the Hymelick (sp?) manuever wouldn't have worked - it didn't get a chance to go far enough down to be expelled.

My parents used to tell me a story of how men in a bar in Sudbury were betting how many pickled eggs they could swallow whole and the same thing happened - a fully grown man choked on a pickled egg and died.

What I want to know, is why is the teacher doing this anyway? Aren't they supposed to be TEACHING educational stuff - not something silly like that game? What can kids learn by it other than that you can die on a marshmallow!!! :rolleyes: Sounds like more babysitting than teaching to me.

"This case was never about money," said the family's attorney, Francis Patrick Murphy. "This case has been about getting the message across to America that dangerous games should not be played in school, with or without supervision."

:brent

I would choke too if I stuffed a bunch of marshmallows in my mouth and then tried to talk.
Swallowing a pickled egg whole, I don't see how anyone could do that successfully.

I would choke too if I stuffed a bunch of marshmallows in my mouth and then tried to talk.
Swallowing a pickled egg whole, I don't see how anyone could do that successfully.


I know! I wouldn't even try that game!! I know it might sound like its not dangerous because they're "marshmallows" but in this case yes - very dangerous!! It would have been safer to stuff rocks in their mouths since they don't take the shape of a throat!! :doh:

And as for the men with the eggs - apparently they were pretty stinking drunk so there goes good judgement and reasoning!! I think this idiot got 7 down before he choked on the 8th!

And as for the men with the eggs - apparently they were pretty stinking drunk so there goes good judgement and reasoning!! I think this idiot got 7 down before he choked on the 8th!

That's crazy. I love them pickled eggs though. Whenever I visit my Canadian relatives they always have a bunch.

That's crazy. I love them pickled eggs though. Whenever I visit my Canadian relatives they always have a bunch.


I can't say I've ever had a pickled egg - hard boiled, yup, but nothing set in brine. Its not dill they're put in is it? You don't do pickled eggs in the States?

I can't say I've ever had a pickled egg - hard boiled, yup, but nothing set in brine. Its not dill they're put in is it? You don't do pickled eggs in the States?

Well I'm not sure how may people here make them. My mom got the idea from my aunt who lives in Canada. I'm not sure exactly what's in the jar but I think they use vinegar, dill and bay leaves. Anyways they are very good, You should try one :)

Well I'm not sure how may people here make them. My mom got the idea from my aunt who lives in Canada. I'm not sure exactly what's in the jar but I think they use vinegar, dill and bay leaves. Anyways they are very good, You should try one :)


Ya talked me into it!! Next time I have the opportunity, I'll give it a shot - just don't think I'll snarf it down in one shot though!!! ;) :lol: :mango:friedegg: (get it - pickled egg!)


btw - check it out the next time you're with your mom shopping - they sell them here in jars I think in the deli section usually. If not, they may be with the pickles. I know they're popular in bars (when you're old enough).

I don't understand why people are wondering how someone could choke on a marshmallow. the same way you choke on anything else. it's wider than the trachea and can get STUCK very easily. it would probably be easier to expel a penny. if you run out of room in your mouth, the marshmallows are going to start being forced down.

To American Idiot:
This case was a real case, and the parents grief is genuine. Please do not make light of this.

I can't say I've ever had a pickled egg - hard boiled, yup, but nothing set in brine. Its not dill they're put in is it? You don't do pickled eggs in the States?
Yep My grandmother ,who lives in Missouri,pickles them all the time. you should really try them! It's more of a southern thing her,thougjh.

"This case was never about money," said the family's attorney, Francis Patrick Murphy. "This case has been about getting the message across to America that dangerous games should not be played in school, with or without supervision."



Dangerous? How many other kids have died from this game? Ever?

To American Idiot:
This case was a real case, and the parents grief is genuine. Please do not make light of this.

I'm sorry,It's just they are refering to a marshmello as a "dangerous game"

o_O Um ok...

Yep My grandmother ,who lives in Missouri,pickles them all the time. you should really try them! It's more of a southern thing her,thougjh.


I'll have to give it a shot. I have tried pickled herring - OMG - it was like licking the bottom of a row boat to me!!! Maybe that's why it sort of put me off (that, and the choking story)!!

Well, if I'm going to try southern food, I'd rather it be a pickled egg than grits! I saw those at a Ponderosa buffet in Florida and it just looks like quicksand to me!! :lol: I do like cornbread tho - my aunt in Texas makes that.

I'll have to give it a shot. I have tried pickled herring - OMG - it was like licking the bottom of a row boat to me!!! Maybe that's why it sort of put me off (that, and the choking story)!!

Well, if I'm going to try southern food, I'd rather it be a pickled egg than grits! I saw those at a Ponderosa buffet in Florida and it just looks like quicksand to me!! :lol: I do like cornbread tho - my aunt in Texas makes that.

you should also try crawfish. YUM!!

Dangerous? How many other kids have died from this game? Ever?


More like a stupid game. Actually, I'll bet there's been a few. God knows where you'd find the statistics tho.

To me, it just sounds more like something you'd do at camp rather than school!! Especially when you're 12 - isn't that grade 6 or 7???

More like a stupid game. Actually, I'll bet there's been a few. God knows where you'd find the statistics tho.

To me, it just sounds more like something you'd do at camp rather than school!! Especially when you're 12 - isn't that grade 6 or 7???

Yeah, it must have been one of those last-days-of-school games. Anyway, the parents used it in their favor, to gain $2 million. Reasonable people understand this had nothing to do with the school itself.

you should also try crawfish. YUM!!


NO WAY!!! I draw the line there baby!!! My husband was in New Orleans and brought me back a menu from a Cajun restaurant - I just about died!! I guess my northern tastes just couldn't handle it!! I looked like a list of things you'd find in a swamp!!! I just know when I've been swimming up north and come across those white crawfish they just gross me out! It's frustrating because part of me would like to be adventurous and give it a shot, but I dunno. I knew I should have hit Mardi Gras during my drinking days!! :lol:

I'm not surprised she choke on the marshmallow during this game. If it's the same game I'm thinking of on Oprah a few years ago she was talking about this game kids play called "funny bunny" (?). Well, the idea is to put a marshmallow in your mouth or as many as you can while you say "funny bunny". Well, she warned people that this is a very dangerous game and some kid had already choked (and I think died) from playing it. So, I guess the people at this school had never watched Oprah (or at least don't listen to her) and were still playing this game.

It could be a totally different game than the one Oprah mentioned, but I have a feeling it is. That's really sad it happened.

I'm not surprised she choke on the marshmallow during this game. If it's the same game I'm thinking of on Oprah a few years ago she was talking about this game kids play called "funny bunny" (?). Well, the idea is to put a marshmallow in your mouth or as many as you can while you say "funny bunny". Well, she warned people that this is a very dangerous game and some kid had already choked (and I think died) from playing it. So, I guess the people at this school had never watched Oprah (or at least don't listen to her) and were still playing this game.

It could be a totally different game than the one Oprah mentioned, but I have a feeling it is. That's really sad it happened.

Now I just see in the article it IS the same game. Well, Chubby bunny, not Funny Bunny. I really only skimmed the article the first time I saw it.

ughh, I'm losing it! I just saw that is happened in 1999, so it must've been the same kid Oprah was talking about! I thought that this JUST happened, like another kid of a case choking on a marshmallow. Sorry about that.

I'm sorry,It's just they are refering to a marshmello as a "dangerous game"
don't mind him, he gets all pissed: on everyone whenever they think something is funny.

NO WAY!!! I draw the line there baby!!! My husband was in New Orleans and brought me back a menu from a Cajun restaurant - I just about died!! I guess my northern tastes just couldn't handle it!! I looked like a list of things you'd find in a swamp!!! I just know when I've been swimming up north and come across those white crawfish they just gross me out! It's frustrating because part of me would like to be adventurous and give it a shot, but I dunno. I knew I should have hit Mardi Gras during my drinking days!! :lol:

Crawfish are SO good. I'm about as Northern-Yankee-ish as you can get, as I'm from Massachusetts, but mmmm I love them :D

Crawfish are SO good. I'm about as Northern-Yankee-ish as you can get, as I'm from Massachusetts, but mmmm I love them :D


this thread all went toward CRAWFISH :p

Crawfish are SO good. I'm about as Northern-Yankee-ish as you can get, as I'm from Massachusetts, but mmmm I love them :D


There can't be that much meat on those things!! I have enough of a time getting the meat out of snowcrab legs - you'd need tweezers for those little guys! :lol:

I'm glad the parents won, and they deserved more than 2 million. Playing a "game" where kids stuff their mouths with anything is sheer stupidity. That teacher is an idiot, and that child's death is his fault in my opinion. Any sane person knows that you don't put large amounts of food in your mouth.

Anyway, the parents used it in their favor, to gain $2 million. Reasonable people understand this had nothing to do with the school itself.
Do they now? If you sent your child off to school, and they conducted a game where kids stuff their mouths to full capacity, and your child died, you wouldn't be pissed at the school? Who is at fault? The girl who died a horrifying death?

School is supposed to be a safe place, not a place where dangerous games are played.

Do they now? If you sent your child off to school, and they conducted a game where kids stuff their mouths to full capacity, and your child died, you wouldn't be pissed at the school? Who is at fault? The girl who died a horrifying death?

School is supposed to be a safe place, not a place where dangerous games are played.


I have to agree with Janice. It was done for fun and games but the teacher has to think about things like this. It's kind of surprising that the teacher would even do this. Some school these days won't even let the kids play dodge ball anymore because someone might get hurt.

Do they now? If you sent your child off to school, and they conducted a game where kids stuff their mouths to full capacity, and your child died, you wouldn't be pissed at the school? Who is at fault? The girl who died a horrifying death?

School is supposed to be a safe place, not a place where dangerous games are played.


I view it as an accident. A child could choke on ONE marshmallow. Kids play these games all the time.

I view it as an accident. A child could choke on ONE marshmallow. Kids play these games all the time.
Well, seeing that a child can choke on ONE marshmallow, it was pretty ****ing stupid for a teacher to have them stuff their cheeks with fistfuls of the suckers now, wasn't it?

A teacher can call a student back to their desk and ont he way the student could trip and hit their head on the desk. Is that the teacher's fault? Teachers give children candy as rewards. Candy makes people fat.

Well, seeing that a child can choke on ONE marshmallow, it was pretty ****ing stupid for a teacher to have them stuff their cheeks with fistfuls of the suckers now, wasn't it?


granted.

I view it as an accident. A child could choke on ONE marshmallow. Kids play these games all the time.

But this wasn't one marshmellow. It was a game where you put as many as you can in your mouth. Which raises the chances of choking. This was a game that the teacher was in charge of and he/she unwillingly put these kids in harms way.

A teacher can call a student back to their desk and ont he way the student could trip and hit their head on the desk. Is that the teacher's fault? Teachers give children candy as rewards. Candy makes people fat.

You're not even in the same ballpark with your examples. :rolleyes:

A teacher can call a student back to their desk and ont he way the student could trip and hit their head on the desk. Is that the teacher's fault? Teachers give children candy as rewards. Candy makes people fat.
Your argument is lame, and your logic is flawed. Teachers shouldn't have kids play games where kids overstuff their mouths. If you don't get that...then I don't know what to say to you. :wave:

I view it as an accident. A child could choke on ONE marshmallow. Kids play these games all the time.


Yeah - plus IMMATURE children play games all the time yes - but this was sanctioned and supposedly "supervised" by a teacher - making them fully liable.

Trust me, I'm sure the parents would rather have their child back than $2M that they'll probably never see. Or they'll get it, but the school will then gripe that they can't afford programs. Looks like they should take a look at their programs as it is.

Anytime an adult is put in charge of children they become fully liable for what happens - especially STUPID accidents that are just waiting to happen.

Anyone can drown in a glass of water too - all the more reason to use caution and avoid stupid stunts that can turn out to be very dangerous.

This is sad. What kind of educator can make this kind of behavior acceptable? An instructor should know better than to let children stuff their mouths with food. The examples provided by one person in this thread are not reasonable. That is the worst argument I have ever seen. Coming to a desk to get a paper is another thing, and stuffing your mouth full is another.


Plus, what is there to be taught by this exercise other than it CAN be dangerous, stupid and lethal! Like kids need to learn that the hard way.
Stupid-ass teacher that's all.

Yeah - and calling a kid up to your desk and he trips is night and day to this thing - he's not purposely endangering the kid - they're just clumsy on their own (unless a tile was pulling up making the kid trip, in which case the school would be liable once again).

I swear if that were my child who died, I would hunt that teacher down and shove an entire bag of marshmallows down his stupid moronic throat. I KNOW my husband would.

I swear if that were my child who died, I would hunt that teacher down and shove an entire bag of marshmallows down his stupid moronic throat. I KNOW my husband would.


It wouldn't just be his throat I'd be stuffing with them!!!

It wouldn't just be his throat I'd be stuffing with them!!!
What, like, in his ears and nose? :lol:

I bet Cathy was thinking of some more places. :D


You know me well my friend!!!


(and Janice was just afraid to go there!! ;) :lol: )

What, like, in his ears and nose? :lol:


:lol: Oh man - I just got a visual of what that would look like.....along with the last place I had in mind!! :rofl:

You need a term of suspension with these remarks. :lol:
Yes, Cathie, step into my office. We need to have a talk.

:lol:

Yes, Cathie, step into my office. We need to have a talk.

:lol:


Uh ohhhhhhh.......I hate going to the principal's office.....:sheep


so I guess this :mooner: would go over like a lead balloon now too huh? :blush:

A horrible, inconceivable nightmare to a parent due to the stupidity of a teacher- to not only conduct this game (inherently dangerous and obviously so to anyone with COMMON SENSE), but then to leave it unsupervised???
They are 12 year olds!

Hell, he should do time for this.

Two million dollars isn't even close to recouping the loss the parents have endured- if it was my child i know no amount would- and I can't imagine how hard it must have been to go on without their daughter. How hard it always will be.

That 2 million would probably have to fund my life in some South American country after I choked that teacher to death.


People who say oh it was only a game have never lost a loved one, or never witnessed someone close to them suffer due to absolute stupidity.

And I weep for your present stupidy and your future losses.

A horrible, inconceivable nightmare to a parent due to the stupidity of a teacher- to not only conduct this game (inherently dangerous and obviously so to anyone with COMMON SENSE), but then to leave it unsupervised???
They are 12 year olds!

Hell, he should do time for this.

Two million dollars isn't even close to recouping the loss the parents have endured- if it was my child i know no amount would- and I can't imagine how hard it must have been to go on without their daughter. How hard it always will be.

That 2 million would probably have to fund my life in some South American country after I choked that teacher to death.

People who say oh it was only a game have never lost a loved one, or never witnessed someone close to them suffer due to absolute stupidity.

And I weep for your present stupidy and your future losses.
:clap

Someone's in trouble.

Cathie, have a nice time. I hope you're not suspended too long. :wave:

:lol:



Thanks!! We'll see ya in a week or two I guess!! Unless I'm put on global ignore (how can a person NOT tell when they're being ignored - I'd get a complex)!! :lol:

I just hope Janice doesn't have her whip with her today.....

:wave:

I just hope Janice doesn't have her whip with her today.....


:whip

:whip


UH OH.........:eek3:

This game has been going on for years and years..

Weren't we all taught to not run with our mouth full? Where were the parents on this issue before this kid choked to death?

This game has been going on for years and years..

Weren't we all taught to not run with our mouth full? Where were the parents on this issue before this kid choked to death?
Who said they were running? You want to blame the parents for this? Go you. :rolleyes:

Who said they were running? You want to blame the parents for this? Go you. :rolleyes:
:yeahthat

I don't think the parents had a choice or say in it - it happened at school - they probably had no idea this was going on.

Who said they were running? You want to blame the parents for this? Go you. :rolleyes:

I've seen this game before, unless there is a different game which involves stuffing your mouth full of marshmallows.

And no, I don't recall blaming the parents, Janice. They should know that this game is played in schools all over the country. I remember watching it played for some kind of pepfest at our school, thinking that it can't be very safe.

Legally the school is responsible, and should and will be held accountable...I didn't think something that obvious needed to be pointed out.

I view it as an accident. A child could choke on ONE marshmallow. Kids play these games all the time.
If a child chokes on a piece of candy the teacher gives them by accidently swallowing incorrectly, unless it's an enormous jawbreaker that they could hardly fit in their mouth, it's not the teacher's fault. anyone can figure out that if you keep stuffing things in your mouth, especially things larger than the trachea, they're going to start sliding down the esophagus without much of a warning. the school was sponsoring this game. even if the kids were just having a private marshmallow contest on the playground or something, the staff needs to be monitoring them. but the school was HOSTING this game, and stuffing as many things in their mouths as they can was exactly what the children were supposed to do. it was not just "ONE" marshmallow; according to a different article about this, she had four in her mouth. that teacher is a worthless ****ing idiot for not considering how EASY it is to choke when you're shoving as many objects (which are larger than the trachea in this case) in your mouth as you can. once you feel it starting to go down the esophagus, it will be hard to get it out, and in moments you'll be choking. he's even more of an idiot for not AT LEAST watching them.

Bottom line: nothing much can be done to prevent choking while playing chubby bunnies, and the school sponsored this activity; the girl didn't intentionally do anything they didn't expect her to.

I've seen this game before, unless there is a different game which involves stuffing your mouth full of marshmallows.

And no, I don't recall blaming the parents, Janice. They should know that this game is played in schools all over the country. I remember watching it played for some kind of pepfest at our school, thinking that it can't be very safe.

Legally the school is responsible, and should and will be held accountable...I didn't think something that obvious needed to be pointed out.
Maybe the obvious needed to be pointed out in your case as your post clearly didn't object to the game or say a negative word about the school. We're not mind readers.

You implied that the parents were at fault and you know it. What was all that running with food in the mouth talk about?

Parents should know that this game is played everywhere? Why is that? I know teachers, kids that age, and I've never heard of the game.

Maybe the obvious needed to be pointed out in your case as your post clearly didn't object to the game or say a negative word about the school. We're not mind readers.

You implied that the parents were at fault and you know it. What was all that running with food in the mouth talk about?

Parents should know that this game is played everywhere? Why is that? I know teachers, kids that age, and I've never heard of the game.

Maybe I was looking at it from a different angle?

Don't tell me what I implied. I know what I'm talking about, you don't. You don't need to put words in my mouth. When I saw it played, I definitely remember running, I think it was part of an obstacle course thing.

I've heard of this game, I've seen it played, I'd just assume this game is pretty well known about.

Maybe I was looking at it from a different angle?

Don't tell me what I implied. I know what I'm talking about, you don't. You don't need to put words in my mouth. When I saw it played, I definitely remember running, I think it was part of an obstacle course thing.

I've heard of this game, I've seen it played, I'd just assume this game is pretty well known about.
I didn't put words in your mouth. I read your words, and it's hard to draw any other conclusion that you didn't think the school was at fault and that the parents were to blame. But if you say so....

What kind of nutty teachers are teaching these days? She seemed to not have much of a brain. I am surprised more children didn't lose their life. Even swallowing goldfish in the 1950's had a risk. Kids did it but no teacher coax them on.

Yeah, it must have been one of those last-days-of-school games. Anyway, the parents used it in their favor, to gain $2 million. Reasonable people understand this had nothing to do with the school itself.

How ****ing idiotic and moronic is that statement you made?!? A child is dead because of an asinine game allowed by a teacher. Maybe you're a child yourself or maybe you are just ignorant. Either way, NO MONEY IN THE WORLD is worth the price of a child's life. If I was offered 1 billion dollars, but it might cost me the life of one of my daughters, than I'll stay poor. No money is worth the pain and emptiness I would feel for the rest of my life. When you have a family of your own, you'll understand what I speak of. 2 million dollars is nothing, especially when they walk past their child's empty room. I swear sometimes people shock the hell out of me with their comments.

How ****ing idiotic and moronic is that statement you made?!? A child is dead because of an asinine game allowed by a teacher. Maybe you're a child yourself or maybe you are just ignorant. Either way, NO MONEY IN THE WORLD is worth the price of a child's life. If I was offered 1 billion dollars, but it might cost me the life of one of my daughters, than I'll stay poor. No money is worth the pain and emptiness I would feel for the rest of my life. When you have a family of your own, you'll understand what I speak of. 2 million dollars is nothing, especially when they walk past their child's empty room. I swear sometimes people shock the hell out of me with their comments.


:clap right on!

Reasonable people understand this had nothing to do with the school itself.
...other than the fact that they hosted the game.

a more detailed article:

CHICAGO -- 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.

Attorney Francis Patrick Murphy said in opening statements, "The evidence will show that when Casey needed the teachers, the faculty and the district the most, there was nobody there for her, and they failed her."

Attorneys for both sides have said Kevin Dorken, the teacher responsible for the classroom where the game was being held, was not in the classroom when Fish passed out.

The wrongful death lawsuit against Dorken and Glenview School District 34 was filed by the Fish family in 2000.

Dorken was recently named principal in the Winnetka School District.

Murphy said in opening statements that the game was played during the school "Care Fair," in which students organized games and sold tickets for which the proceeds were donated to charity.

Students had suggested "chubby bunny" to Dorken, who was a teacher in a set of adjoining classrooms called the Technology Rich Educational Environment, in 1998, and it was played with adequate supervision and without incident that year, Murphy said.

In 1999, students voted to play "chubby bunny" at the Care Fair again, and it was held both in Dorken's classroom and in the sixth-grade classroom where Fish was a pupil, Murphy said.

Students walked around between classrooms to play various games, and Fish went to play "chubby bunny" in Dorken's classroom, Murphy said. Meanwhile, Murphy said, Dorken had claimed he left the classroom to summon a custodian to turn off some lights for another game, but Murphy added that the custodian said two pupils made the request about the lights, and not Dorken.

Dorken was outside the room while the pupils played the game, and had thought the games started at 1 p.m. when they actually started at 12:50 p.m., Murphy said.

While he was away, there was "nobody but other 12-year-olds" in the room, and only after another pupil announced to another teacher, "Casey's choking," did other school staff enter, he said.

Murphy said other teachers who worked in the adjoining classrooms would claim they never knew Dorken had left, and they did not take action right away when they saw Fish fall to the floor.

Other teachers later came and Dorken returned, and paramedics came to the scene, he said.

He added that medical professionals would testify at trial that Fish's trachea was sealed off when she choked on the marshmallows and her lungs filled up with fluid due to pulmonary edema.

When paramedics intubated Fish, Murphy said, fluid from her lungs came out of the tube.

"There was a window of reversibility in this case, and timely, effective intervention would have made this just a choking episode, near scare, not a death case," Murphy said.

Attorney Thomas DiCianni, representing the school district and Dorken, said Fish's death was tragic, but was not the legal responsibility of the school and the teacher.

He said Fish herself was one of those who raised the idea for playing "chubby bunny" at the Care Fair for the second year in 1999.

"Casey liked the game that much," DiCianni said.

DiCianni added that Dorken had admonished the pupils not to start the games until they were set up or without his consent, and regardless of the suggested start time of 12:50 p.m., Dorken had the authority to wait until 1 p.m. to start the games.

DiCianni also said the custodian who was asked to turn off the lights would not dispute that he met up with Dorken while the teacher was outside the classroom.

When Fish began playing "chubby bunny," she took four marshmallows and first began to make movements with her hands, then walked to the water fountain, DiCianni said. At that point, no one had cause for alarm, he said.

But when Fish fell, two other teachers entered the room, and one gathered the other pupils to remove them from the scene while another performed a "finger swipe" to see if anything was blocking Fish's airway and pressed a button to summon for help, DiCianni said.

When Dorken re-entered, he attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver on Fish, and the school health coordinator attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation and chest compressions, he said.

Paramedics and emergency room doctors were shocked that they could not revive Fish, since there was no evidence that her airway was blocked, he said.

When Fish's body was taken to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, the medical examiner's investigators were "baffled," but concluded that Fish had died of aspiration of food following an investigation, although there was no forensic evidence, DiCianni said.

"We think, ladies and gentlemen, that the medical examiner may have missed something," DiCianni told jurors.

Murphy had claimed that by leaving the pupils unsupervised for a short time, Dorken had broken the school rule that teachers must supervise pupils "at all times," but DiCianni said leaving the classroom briefly was not a violation of school rules.

He added that there was no evidence that anyone at the school was indifferent to the safety of Fish or any student.

I remember this case all too well. Glenview is only about 10 or 15 minutes away from where I live. This was a terrible tragedy. Still, I'm not sure if I would blame the teacher. He may have left the classroom, but teachers leave the classroom all the time. And we are talking about a 12 year old girl here, not a 5 or 6 year old girl. A person at 12 is old enough to know that if they stick something in their mouths, they very well could choke on it. Still, it is always terrible when something like this happens.