Caitlin Nelson, 20, died last year after choking during a charity pancake-eating contest. Her family has filed a lawsuit against Sacred Heart University for sponsoring the contest, alleging that the college “failed to investigate the safety of a pancake eating contest before granting approval.”
The suit also claims that the school did not provide “adequate and appropriate medical personnel” for the event.
“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,” Katie Mesner-Hage, the Nelson’s attorney, told Allyson Chiu of the Washington Post.
Miss Nelson was in her junior year, studying to become a social worker in order to help seriously ill children.
Making her death even more tragic, her father, James Nelson, was a Port Authority police officer who was killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
