The death of a 13-year-old Faraday Elementary School student who collapsed in a school hallway earlier this week was not linked to the recent spate of hot weather, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said Friday.
Steven Naugle Jr. of Chicago died from a collapsed left lung, a spokesman said, with bronchial asthma a contributing factor. Officials could not say exactly what caused the lung to collapse. “It is something of a mystery,” the spokesman said. “An underlying lung disease might make it prone to that.”
Although most healthy people can withstand a collapsed lung, the shortness of breath that followed may have exacerbated his asthma, leading to a complete blockage of air passages.
Naugle was “living on one lung, and it [was] diseased,” the spokesman said. “That’s a losing battle.”
The boy died at 1:53 p.m. Thursday at Cook County Hospital, less than an hour after he complained to a teacher that he was having difficulty breathing.
The boy’s family said he had struggled with asthma for several years but never before had a severe attack. He had seen a physician Wednesday and had a note clearing him to return to school, his family said. Still, JoAnn Naugle, his mother, said school officials knew the boy had a sensitive condition and should have taken steps to place him in a cool room.
“The school’s office has air conditioning; why don’t they give it to the children?” she asked.
Meanwhile, a crisis counseling team was dispatched to the school early Friday to talk with students needing assistance.
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