University Sued By Student's Family Who Choked, Died During Pancake Eating Contest

The family of a college student who choked to death in a pancake-eating competition last year at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit against the university Monday.

Caitlin Nelson died after choking during an on-campus, school-sanctioned pancake eating contest for charity on March 30, 2017. She reportedly began shaking uncontrollably and fell to the floor after eating multiple pancakes in a short duration of time.

“She started to choke on a pancake and someone recognized it — one of the nursing students at the competition — and she caught her and brought her slowly to the ground. And then she began CPR, basic life support, until officers showed up less than two minutes after the emergency call was made by one of the nursing students,” Fairfield police Lt. Robert Kalamaras had said in April, the New York Post reported.

Though the medics responded within minutes, they were unable to clear her mouth and throat of pancakes. The blockage deprived her oxygen for an extended period which led to her suffering serious brain damage. She was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to New York’s Columbia University Medical Center, where she died three days later from asphyxia due to obstruction of the airway.

According to the lawsuit filed Monday, the responding officers found a mass of pancake paste “like concrete” in her airway. It also alleged that the university approved the contest and the use of pancakes which is “a particularly dangerous food to eat quickly.” It also said the institution failed to have medical personnel on-site in case of an emergency.

The law firm that represents the family said the lawsuit aims to highlight the dangers of such amateur eating competitions.

“Caitlin’s family is bringing this case to expose the dangers associated with amateur eating contests and to help prevent other families from having to endure this type of preventable tragedy. These contests are significantly more dangerous than people realize and it’s critically important for the public — especially educational institutions — to understand that certain foods are safer than others and a modicum of forethought can literally save lives,” said Katie Mesner-Hage of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, which represents the family, NBC Connecticut reported.

There have been several tragic cases of people who died during eating competitions. In 2016, a 54-year-old man died after chocking in a chicken-wing eating contest held at a KFC in West Jakarta. Restaurant employees quickly transported him to a hospital after he started choking but he died by the time he got there, The Richest reported.

In another incident in 2013, a 60-year-old man died during a sausage-eating contest in Romania. The man, who was the winner of the competition, fell on the ground before he could walk up to the mic to deliver his acceptance speech. Doctors attempted to resuscitate the man by clearing out his blocked airways, however it was too late.