Story Archive

Breathtaking Stupidity

Emma Gonzales, 9, was having trouble breathing in class at Columbia Elementary School in West Jordan, Utah, Monday morning. She had been to the emergency room over the weekend, and a doctor prescribed an inhaler to help her breathe. “I kind of hurtle up on the ground, can’t breathe and then I start to kind of feel a little nauseous,” Emma said. So she took out her inhaler in class to relieve her shortness of breath — and was immediately sent to the office by her teacher, where staff took her inhaler away, and wouldn’t let her have it back. “There could be all sorts of problems if children were just allowed to take any medication and we didn’t have that verification,” said district spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf — the school wasn’t notified of the girl’s new prescription and she didn’t have the correct district paperwork from her parents. “Again, this is for the student’s safety.” Gonzales was in such distress that she threw up. “When a child is puking all over themselves and they can’t breathe, you know you kind of have to take action right then and there,” says Emma’s mother, Britney Badger. The family is keeping the girl out of school until it’s all sorted out. (RC/KSTU Salt Lake City) ...Because school officials understand medical issues much better than doctors.