The suit alleges that staff at Pelican Marsh Elementary School contributed to the May 1999 death of Ronald Paul "R.J" Victor II
Saturday, April 29, 2000
By DENISE ZOLDAN, Staff Writer
The parents of a North Naples kindergartner who died last year after getting sick at school have filed suit against the Collier County School Board.
Ronald and Debra Victor of North Naples filed suit in Collier Circuit Court, seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $15,000 for the pain and mental suffering caused by the loss of their only child, 6-year-old Ronald Paul "R.J" Victor II.
"When you send your child to school in the morning, you don't expect something like this to happen," said Ted Zelman, the Victors' attorney. "The family is very distressed. This is the light that lit up their lives."
The suit filed Thursday alleges that staff at Pelican Marsh Elementary School contributed to the May 6, 1999, death of R.J., who suffered from mitochondrial disease, a rare cellular affliction. The cause of death was listed as aspiration pneumonia, which is an inflammation of the lungs caused by inhaling a foreign material.
Because of his illness, R.J. was placed in a special education class at Pelican Marsh Elementary with seven other children who also had disabilities. Four adults were in the class at the time R.J. became ill.
Zelman gave this account of what happened that day:
R.J.'s nanny took him to school around 8 a.m. and told teachers that he hadn't slept well the night before. She left directions for the school to call if he was having trouble staying awake because R.J. wasn't allowed to sleep without being hooked to a medical device.
The school called the nanny about 10:30 a.m. to report that R.J. was drooling and falling asleep. Medical reports say R.J. was suffering from aspiration pneumonia, which worsened rapidly because of his disease.
The nanny picked up R.J. at the school and then called Debra Victor, his mother, who was at work.
By 11:19 a.m., Debra Victor was home and calling 911. The Collier County Emergency Medical Services ambulance arrived at the Victors' home six minutes later. R.J. arrived at North Collier Hospital at 11:46 a.m.
Around 2:30 p.m., R.J. was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, where he died before midnight that night, Zelman said.
"This family spent so much time and money finding out what was wrong with their child and taking care of him, and just when they thought things were getting better, this happens," Zelman said.
He said the family blames school officials for not doing more when there was time to help R.J.
The suit alleges the employees failed to:
- Adequately care for and supervise R.J. while he was under their care.
- Adequately respond to R.J.'s distress.
- Provide nursing and medical attention to the child.
Eli Mobley, risk manager for Collier County Public Schools, gave a similar account of the incident. But he said R.J. was drooling as usual, and although he appeared sleepy he didn't appear to be in danger.
"It's an unfortunate incident," Mobley said. "It's understandable for parents to feel the way they do about the loss of their child.
"I still believe that Pelican Marsh did nothing wrong. I feel bad but I feel we did everything we could do."
Under Florida law, the School Board cannot be sued for more than $100,000 per person, per claim, or a total $200,000 per incident.
