Parents: School's Forced Neck Brace Caused Son's Death

Parents: School’s Forced Neck Brace Caused Son’s Death

Aaron Hatcher’s family seeks justice for their dead son after years of alleged abuse in the school system.

The Daily Mail reports that the school of a special needs student is being sued amidst claims from his parents that the actions of a teacher at the school in forcing the student to wear a neck brace constituted an act abuse and contributed to his death.

Aaron Hatcher, who had muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, could not speak or walk. His father Ronald, from Atlanta, Georgia, claims a teacher at Roswell High School forced the teen to wear a homemade neck brace, causing physical and mental suffering.

The family’s attorney, Mr. Sauls, further explained that the brace when tightened caused an obstruction in the child’s breathing, and that this was major factor in his death last year. Several emergency room trips resulted from the use of the unapproved neck brace but the parents claim that the teacher in question continued to force its use on Aaron despite being informed of the harm it was causing.

[The teacher] fastened this neck brace not for any medical reason, but to force his neck in a position to look at her,’ Mr Sauls told WSBTV.com.
‘In turning his head in this position, it restricted his airway,’ he added. ‘In essence, it stopped him from breathing.’

The teacher in question has been named as Katherine Durden.

The lawsuit filed by the family names numerous defendants including the school district and claims that abuse was also suffered at Aaron’s middle school 6 years ago. The teacher accused from that school, Melanie Pickens, has since had her teacher’s license revoked for abusing students.

According to the lawsuit, the family seeks compensatory and punitive damages for assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, negligent hiring and retention, constitution violations, and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Rehabilitation Act and several Georgia state laws

Fulton County Schools refuses to comment on the case.

Comments

Joe

March 8, 2012 at 4:24 am

Why don’t teachers in special-needs schools get more screening and oversight? This is a perfect place for child abusers and pedophiles to hide. Among completely undefended students.

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wintertime

March 8, 2012 at 9:40 am

I am reminded of the Sesame Street song with the lyrics, “one of these things does not belong here”. Hm?…”Several emergency room trips” resulted from the use of the neck brace. Well! Several questions come to my mind:

1) Why would any parent continue to send a child to a school when the result was trips to an **emergency room**!

2) Why didn’t the school administration intervene as well with the teacher?

3) No, teacher could be **that** dumb. Maybe, once, but after “several” trips to the emergency room, does this sound believable?

My conclusion: Something is definitely missing from this story.

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- Linda Brees
  
  March 10, 2012 at 4:06 am
  
  1) Most parents don’t have the option of transferring their kids from school to school. You’re judging from privilege if you think it’s possible. Spaces in schools aimed at special-ed students are at a premium.
  
  2&3) http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/cellphone-video-provides-proof-of-bullying-teacher/
  
  Read this if you think it’s hard for a teacher to get away with abusing a student, especially a special-needs one, over long periods of time.
  
  Reply
Jeannette Abulafia

March 9, 2012 at 7:51 am

I wonder why the treating physician(s) at the emergency room apparently did nothing to stop the use of the brace, particularly if the brace is indeed a non-medically-approved, home-made device.

I wonder, too, why the treating physician(s) apparently failed to connect use of the home-made brace with possible or probable child-abuse.

Reply