Girl, 17, dies at boarding school after her 'crippling pain ignored for weeks’
A family is suing their teenager's boarding school after she died from sepsis when "education officials ignored her crippling pain".
Taylor Goodridge, 17, collapsed and died on December 20 at the Diamond Ranch Academy in Hurricane, Utah, US, after suffering crippling stomach pain.
Her dad Dean Goodridge, from Washington, believes she was suffering from sepsis due to an untreated illness after complaining of abdominal pain just weeks before she died.
Mr Goodridge has since filed a lawsuit against the boarding school allegedly they dismissed his daughter's "serve" stomach pain.
Diamond Ranch Academy has been placed on probation by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services following Taylor's death.
Nursery apologises after child with Down's syndrome ‘treated less favourably’
The dad alleges the school told his daughter to "suck it up" and claimed Taylor was faking her pain as they told her to drink water and take aspirin.
According to Mr Goodridge, the pain was so bad his daughter collapsed in her vomit.
Diamond Ranch Academy is described as a "therapeutic boarding school" that helps support teens with mental conditions including major depressive disorder and anger management issues.
The teen died at Diamond Ranch Academy in Hurricane, Utah, on December 20 (Google)In the lawsuit her dad claims Taylor was fit and healthy when she attended the school but in November had started to feel unwell.
She had fallen ill and reported her concerns to the school leadership team in November but it is claimed her pain was dismissed, according to the lawsuit.
Alan Mortensen, who represents Dean, believes the school violated the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act by refusing to take Taylor's illness and concerns seriously enough.
Mr Mortensen said: "Here is that this young teenager is sent down to Utah from the state of Washington to try and help her get her life back in order.
"And before they know it, she’s died from what we believe will ultimately prove out to be sepsis. And with no explanation."
The lawsuit also believe the students "are often ignored or told that they are faking their illnesses".
School officials informed the dad the teenager had been rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack and died just hours later.
'My son's teacher took away his shoes and lost them - they should replace them'
However, he parents believe Taylor died of sepsis from an untreated stomach illness.
The dad alleges the school told his daughter to "suck it up" after she complained of stomach pains (Facebook)The suit also claims the dad chose the school for his daughter after believing she would be looked after.
He had read the Diamond Ranch Academy Parent Manual which states: "'We recognise how difficult a decision it was to intervene on your child's behalf.
"'We also recognise how difficult it is to place the care of your child in the hands of another. Please take comfort in knowing that we take our responsibility very seriously."
It also adds they will "treat every student as if they were our own daughter or son."
At this moment it is unclear what Taylor was being treated for at the boarding school.
The heartbroken dad broke the news on Facebook on Christmas Eve that he had tragically lost his daughter.
He wrote: "This is the hardest thing I will ever write. We don't know what happened we will find out what happened."
The Washington dad said his daughter "meant the world to her family."
Taylor's mum, Amber Wigtion, said the death has impacted her younger siblings who have been left devastated.
She told ABC 4 Utah: "'They [her siblings] are taking it kind of hard too, especially my nine-year-old, she really looked up to her big sister."
Diamond Ranch Academy said in a statement: "We are cooperating fully and transparently with the State of Utah as they investigate this tragedy.
"The safety of the students is our number one priority and we are continually striving to provide the best care possible to our students and families.
"It is the policy of Diamond Ranch Academy to not publicly comment on pending litigation."
The boarding school, which boasts glowing reviews, can cost upwards of $7,000 (£5,800) a month.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
