A Yonkers sixth-grader was pronounced dead at an area hospital after choking and becoming unresponsive at the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School on Wednesday.
Yonkers Public Schools Superintendent Anibal Soler, Jr. said emergency actions could not save the 12-year-old student.
Speaking during a press conference Thursday afternoon, Soler said an adult reacted within seconds and that EMTs and police arrived in minutes.
Soler said lifesaving techniques, including the Heimlich maneuver and backslaps, were administered, and that life-vacs were present.
The school leader said the student’s classmates are dealing with the loss of their friend.
“The classmates have been fantastic. They are writing letters to mom, to dad, to the family to recognize him," Soler said. "They are just trying to stay focused in the joy, trying to remember some of them that [have] been with him since pre-k. This young man was a bright light in the building. Everybody loved him, everybody knew him. He was energy, he was joy.”
Soler did not confirm if the student choked while attempting a “one bite” challenge circulating on social media.
The superintendent said, “12-year-olds are not meant to die.”
An online fundraiser for the student’s family had raised more than $37,000 on Thursday.
