A 3-year-old died recently after he choked on a pushpin at his preschool. Police in Oceanside, California, have closed the case and say it was tragic accident.
The 3-year-old little boy, Tyler Howell, was attending Montessori School of Oceanside, when a teacher heard him gasping and saw him place his hands to his neck. The toddler lost consciousness and died shortly after arriving at a hospital. CPR was performed and emergency services were called to take the boy to an emergency room from the school.
The school has a clean record of safety compliance and in the most recent inspection it was noted that “all hazardous items are stored where they are inaccessible to children.”
Authorities do not know how the toddler got a hold of the pushpin.
Tyler’s mother, Aja, told NBC San Diego that she doesn’t blame the school for the child’s death.
“This was Tyler’s home, everyone was with him till the moment he was gone … I don’t want any parents to be afraid to come here,” she told the station.
Aja and Danny Howell’s daughter is still enrolled at the school and was in classes again just a few days later.
Even though we don’t know, and may never know, how the child got ahold of the pushpin, this tragedy still reminds us to think about how and where things are stored.
Would you be blaming the school if this happened to your child, even with the good safety record they have? Can accidents like this happen anywhere? How do you store items like this at home?
