A grieving family is questioning the actions of administrators at a Texas middle school where their son died after he collapsed during basketball practice.
According to KTRK, Xavier Thompson died at Thornton Middle School in Katy on Nov. 15. His mother said he suffered an asthma attack that day and immediately got calls from worried teammates right after her son’s collapse.
“I had to get a call from a student in panic asking me what to do over and over and over again,” 13-year-old Xavier’s mom Brittany Thompson said. “It saddens me that nobody called 911 when they saw my baby had trouble breathing.”
Xavier’s coaches also swiftly contacted Thompson and her husband, and the couple urged them to call first responders to the school. The family also noted that a fire station was located right next door.
By the time Xavier’s father arrived at the school, his son wasn’t breathing. Family members say he was the one who performed CPR on his son, but the life-saving measure didn’t revive him.
Xavier’s mother said that just a day before her son’s asthma attack, he was dancing in the living room, ecstatic about making the school’s basketball team. The next day, he died.
“I don’t understand,” the Thompsons’ attorney George Powell said. “Without medical personnel being there, calling the parents isn’t going to help anybody who is suffering a traumatic injury or some sort of respiratory failure.”
The family told KTRK that Xavier suffered from asthma his whole life, but his condition was well managed. They arranged an action plan for his condition with the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District. The middle school also had two inhalers reserved for the teen for cases when he needed medication.
“They have physicals, we have medical insurance on file, and they have all of these emergency contacts,” Thompson said. “What’s the point if children have to call it and say, ‘What do we do?'”
Thornton Middle School officials sent a letter to parents of all students notifying them about Xavier’s death and offering counseling for students.
“I just want my son back. I would give my life for his in a heartbeat. I would go and breathe for him if I could,” Xavier’s mother tearfully said.
Xavier’s family said an autopsy has been conducted to determine the exact cause of death and they’re currently awaiting results at this time.
A district spokesperson told KHOU 11 that Xavier’s death was asthma-related and is unaware of any concerns about the medical attention he was given.
Another family in the Houston area also suffered a similar tragedy as the Thompsons three months ago when a student died at his middle school.
Landon Payton collapsed and fell unresponsive at Marshall Middle School on Aug. 14. Unlike young Xavier, the 14-year-old suffered no respiratory conditions and had a clean bill of health, according to his father, Alexis Payton.
Payton raised questions about the school’s response to Landon’s collapse in the school gym after learning the school nurse didn’t know how to perform CPR or use the school’s automated external defibrillator (AED), a device that emits an electric shock to restore a normal heart rhythm when someone suffers sudden cardiac arrest.
Two teachers’ unions later claimed that the defibrillator at the school was either broken or outdated.
A family in Southern California also questioned the moments surrounding their 12-year-old son’s death at his middle school last year. Yahshua Robinson collapsed in gym class at Canyon Lake Middle School during a heatwave on a day when the temperature reached 107 degrees. Robinson’s parents learned that the teacher made him run as punishment for not wearing the right attire to class. His family said he collapsed in class and died of cardiac arrest.
